Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday responded to the statement made by People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti about a local militant from the Sedow area of Shopian, who was arrested and later killed in a gunfight in Kupwara on June 20. According to a local news agency, Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Kashmir Zone Police on its official Twitter handle reissued the statement, stating that Showkat Ahmad, a mastermind behind an IED blast inside a private vehicle in the Sedow area of Shopian, was arrested. The police stated that during his interrogation, it was revealed that he used to ferry militants, arms and ammunition from Lolab to Shopian.
Read: Mehbooba urges youth of J&K to shun militancy
“The Kupwara police got his custody changed by the order of the court and arrested in one militancy-related case. During his interrogation in Kupwara, he revealed several sensitive information related to militants operating in the Lolab Valley of Kupwara,” the police said. It added that on his disclosure, an operation was launched and he also got trapped in the ensuing gunfight, in which one foreign militant was killed. Police said that several attempts were made to rescue him but he also got killed in the firing by militants during the gunfight. Notably, Mehbooba on Saturday alleged that a driver was arrested by government forces in the Show area of Shopian and later killed in a gunfight in Kupwara.
