SRINAGAR: A suspected militant from banned Hizbul Mujahideen is reported to have been arrested in Bengaluru in a joint operation by the Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir police, reports appearing in the media said. The arrest took place on June 5.
Identified as Talib Hussain, he was arrested from a mosque in Srirampura, where he was delivering the sermons on Friday prayers. Reports said he had fled from Jammu and Kashmir with his wife and children.
“The security forces keep a watch on the movements of suspicious elements. It is a routine exercise for them. Such arrests have been made in the past too in Bhatkal, Sirsi and other places,” Karnataka Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai has told reporters. “Necessary assistance would be provided to the Jammu and Kashmir Police in their hunt for such elements.”
Hussain, reports said was working in Bengaluru as an auto driver for two years. During the Covid19 lockdown, when he returned home he lost his occupation. He was living in the Okalipuram area. “After he lost his job, Hussain was provided shelter by a local mosque where he lived with his wife and three children,” a police officer was quoted by a newspaper saying.
A resident of the Rajwari Nagsemi area of Kishtwar, Hussain has two wives and five children. One was living back home in Kishtwar and another was accompanying him to Bengaluru.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has told reporters that the police are investigating the suspect. “The state police have intensified its probe in assistance with the Jammu and Kashmir Police on people who are providing shelters to these terror suspects,” Jnanendra was quoted as having said. “The police are probing who provided the documents, including helping to get the SIM cards in Bengaluru and will take action against them.”
Post-arrest, Hussain is reported to have been taken to Jammu for investigations.
