Bengaluru, June 7: A suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant has been arrested in a joint operation by the Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir police. The accused, Talib Hussain, was arrested on June 5, police said on Tuesday.
According to police, Hussain had fled Jammu and Kashmir with his wife and children as the hunt for him was intensified by the armed forces, and was hiding in Bengaluru. Hussain had allegedly taken shelter at a mosque in Srirampura here and used to deliver sermons during Friday prayers.
Hussain was a key person in the Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit in which he allegedly worked as the commander.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today confirmed Hussain’s arrest from the city. Asked if the militant was arrested, Bommai told reporters, “Yes.”
“Generally police keep an eye on people like them. We will provide whatever assistance is required to the Jammu and Kashmir police. In the past too, such arrests had taken place in Sirsi and Bhatkal.”
“The Jammu and Kashmir police have taken this very seriously,” Bommai explained.
Meanwhile, Dogras and Kashmiri Pandits continued their protests on Monday demanding that employees from the two communities posted in Kashmir be relocated here in the wake of the civilian killings in the Valley.
Dogra employees assembled under the banner of “All Jammu-based Reserved Categories Employees Association” at Panama Chowk here for the sixth day and staged a sit-in to press their demand for transfer from the Valley to their home districts in the Jammu region.
On June 2, a bank manager, Vijay Kumar from Rajasthan, was shot dead in Kulgam. Kumar, who hailed from Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Two labourers from Bihar were shot hours after, leaving one dead.
Earlier, a Hindu teacher killed by militants in Kulgam district and TV artist Amreen Bhat died after Lashkar-e-Taiba militants opened fire at her in the Chadoora area of Budgam.–(News18)
