Three Sopore Men Held While Crossing LoC into PoK; Muzaffarabad Man Claims He Entered Kashmir to Meet Girlfriend

Srinagar, May 31 (IANS) Three persons were apprehended on Sunday while they were trying to cross the Line of Control (LoC) into Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials said the Army nabbed the three persons as they tried to cross the LoC in Kashmir.

All three persons are hailing from the Sopore area of Baramulla district. They were trying to exfiltrate into PoK from the Hathlanga-Nambla axis during the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday, the officials said.

The trio arrested have been identified as Adil Hussain Dar, resident of Sopore; Ishfaq Ahmad, a resident of Sopore and Jaffar Ahmad, a resident of Sopore. Of these, Dar is a suspended TA (Territorial Army)-161 personnel, said officials.

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Sources said the trio was in contact with some handlers based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

All three are currently in custody and are being questioned by security agencies.

More details are awaited.

In another incident, the Army unit apprehended a PoK resident who had crossed the LoC into Kashmir in the Silikote area of the Uri sector.

The apprehended person, Zeeshan Mir, a resident of Muzaffarabad, claimed he had crossed the LoC to meet his girlfriend who lives in Tileai in the sector.

Both Mir and the girl are being questioned by security forces, the officials said, adding further details were awaited.

Jammu and Kashmir has a 740-km-long LoC situated in Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora districts of the Valley and in Poonch, Rajouri and partly in Jammu district of Jammu division.

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The Army is guarding the LoC in J&K against infiltration, exfiltration, drug smuggling and drone activity initiated from across the border.

Drones are used by terrorist outfits in PoK to drop payloads of arms, ammunition, cash and drugs into the Indian side of the border. These payloads are picked up by the overground workers (OGWs) of terrorist outfits and passed on to the terrorists to sustain terrorism in the union territory.

High-tech anti-drone equipment is being used by the Army to check the menace of drones.

[VP]

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