Sumit Sharma
JAMMU, Aug 8: Irfan Ahmad Khan, son of Abdul Qayoom Khan, resident of Dhargloon Poonch, the alleged mastermind behind the IED blast at Revenue office in Poonch wanted to contest Assembly elections from Mendhar and for that very purpose, he had approached to some political parties for mandate but before he could succeed, police caught hold off him.
The revelation in this connection was made by him during questioning in the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Jammu. Sources said that officers in the JIC are under intense pressure and are being allegedly asked to go slow on the investigation. They added that a particular lobby is working to ensure that Khan gets a safe passage.
During questioning, he has allegedly told the police that for blast in Revenue office, he settled the issue for Rs 1.55 lakh and as a token money, he gave Rs. 55000. He further claimed to have managed explosive from Majeed Dar of Handwara. Sources said that Khan hatched the conspiracy after coming to know that Government is contemplating to give tehsil status to the place of his birth.
They added that Khan has huge chunk of land near the Revenue office in Dhargloon which he wanted to sell. Irfan, the mastermind, has also number of bungalows including at places like Dhargloo, B.G Sector, Jammu and Rajouri. Meanwhile, when contacted, DIG Rajouri-Poonch range Ashok Kumar Atri said that in the very case, police have arrested four persons so far identified as Irfan, Farooq, Nisar Khan, a constable and Khalid Ahmed who gave shelter to the accused.
Hunt is on to arrest Majeed. Pertinently, Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested one of the absconding accused persons in Poonch blast from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. Irfan Ahmad Khan, son of Abdul Qayoom Khan, who is the resident of Dhargloon Poonch, was arrested by SIT Poonch police in connection with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast that destroyed the office of a senior revenue officer (Naib Tehsildar) at Balakote sector in Poonch on the intervening night of June 24, this year.
A police team led by Station House Officer Police (SHO) police station Gursai, Poonch district arrived in Kashmir to arrest Abdul Majeed. His role in the attack surfaced when Irfan revealed before police that he purchased the explosive material worth Rs. 55,000 from him. On 12 July, a police team who had already arrested a person Irfan Ahmad Khan on his disclosure went to Batmaloo in arrest Majeed.
On reaching Munawerabad near HDFC bank, the accused Abdul Majeed shouted, --save me, save me, from these unknown persons. In the meantime, scores of persons mostly youth assembled and smashed the vehicle by pelting stones at the vehicle. All the six policemen who were in civil received injuries in the incident, sources said.
The two accused Abdul Majeed and Irfan Khan while taking advantage of stone pelting in the area managed to escape. After the incident, the SHO Gursai was attached at Police Lines Poonch while a new SHO Inspector Irfan was posted at the police station. SIT continued searches for the absconding accused persons, Irfan, after being identified by Head Constable Nisar Khan, was arrested at Gutli Bagh Ganderbal. |
