RSS recce: ATS hands over JeM ultra to J&K police
| Date :11-Jun-2022 |
By Dheeraj Fartode
AFTER a more than two-week-long interrogation by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Nagpur, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist, who had conducted recce of Dr Hedgewar Smriti Bhavan of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS), was handed back to Jammu & Kashmir Police for further action.
A special team of ATS took the JeM ultra, Raees Ahmed Sheikh Asadullah Sheikh (26), a resident of Khati Mohalla, Chandara, Awantipora town of Pulwama district, back to J&K after collecting important leads during the interrogation.
Sources told ‘The Hitavada’ that the ATS also extracted critical information about JeM’s nefarious designs of targeting sensitive and vital installations in Maharashtra.
“Raees was a working as ‘Hybrid’ militant who pose as civilian to dissemble their violent activities. He was in initial stage of terror activities when the police arrested him last year,” an official said, adding that Recce of Smriti Bhavan was his first out of home state operation. A person named Omar, who is operational commander of JeM’s Nawabpur (Pakistan)-based terrorist launching pad, had tasked him to conduct the recce, the official stated.
Raees came to Nagpur by a Delhi-Mumbai-Nagpur flight on July 13 and checked into a hotel in Sitabuldi area. The handler had assured Raees that a local man would contact and help him at Nagpur in the operation. However, Raees conducted the reconnaissance on his own as no person contacted him. The investigators are suspecting that local support was just a false assurance given by JeM to Raees to boost his confidence.
On July 14, Raees took an auto-rickshaw and reached Reshimbag with the help of Google Map. The location was sent by his handler. His target was to conduct recce of Smriti Bhavan. He alighted near the Reshimbag ground in the afternoon. Raees then switched on his mobile phone camera and shot a video of the Smriti Bhavan from the ground on the pretext of talking over phone. He shared the video with his handler on WhatsApp who got angry over the poor quality of video and instructed him to again shoot the video. However, Raees refused fearing police and switched off the mobile phone, the investigation revealed.
Raees then asked the autorickshaw driver to take him to a Masjid. The auto driver dropped him at a mosque near Santra Market gate where he stayed for the entire day and returned to the hotel in the evening. On July 15, Raees returned to Srinagar by a Nagpur-Delhi-Srinagar flight, the official said.
Raees, a poor person, was technically sound in electrical work. He got recruited in the JeM on the recommendation of a friend to manage his finances. The friend was killed by security forces in an encounter recently.
A case under relevant sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was
registered against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) at Kotwali Police Station.
The probe was transferred to ATS on the instructions of the then DGP Sanjay Pandey in March this year.