Two Kashmiri Islamic State militants held, 2 pistols seized

New Delhi : Two suspected Islamic State (IS) militants hailing from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested in the Capital, police said on Friday. Two pistols and 10 cartridges were seized from them.

“The two suspects belong to Ganapora village, Shopian. They were arrested from a bus stop near Red Fort on Thursday night. They were to board a bus back to Jammu and Kashmir with the weapons they collected from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, P.S. Kushwah said.

He said the arrested were suspected to be associated with the global terror network’s Jammu and Kashmir franchise.

The group is not known to have physical presence in that state and the state police have been denying that IS militants were operating from there.

However, a fringe group of young men would often be seen waving black flags, used by the IS, in the Kashmir Valley.

“The two — Parvez Ahmed Lone, 24, and Jamsheed Zahoor, 19, — are students of M.Tech and PG Diploma respectively. Delhi was just a transit point for them,” said Kushwah.

They told police that they were taking those weapons to Kashmir, and that there were no activities planned for Delhi.

Lone’s brother was killed in an encounter in the state in January. “He was influenced by his brother,” police said.

 Updated on : Sep 7, 2018 at 18:10 IST  |  Published on: Sep 7, 2018 at 16:18 IST

IANS