After the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Hidayat-Ullah Malik, a Shopian resident, the security has been beefed at the office and residence of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. The terrorist had conducted recce at Sardar Patel Bhawan, and other high-value targets in Delhi and had passed on sensitive information to his handlers in Pakistan.
While Malik was arrested on February 6, at least four others were questioned in connection with the case. Amongst them are two residents of Shopian, including Hidayat-ullah Malik’s wife, a college student pursuing a course in Chandigarh and a Bihar resident.
On February 6 afternoon, Malik was arrested along with arms and ammunition. A vehicle was also seized during the arrest. A case has been registered at Gangyal police station after Malik, chief of a Jaish front group, Lashkar-e-Mustafa, was arrested in Anantnag, and arms and ammunition were found in his possession.
Following his arrest, Malik made a startling disclosure and told interrogators that on the directions his Pakistani handler identified as ‘Doctor’, on May 25, 2019 he had recorded videos of important installations at New Delhi, including Doval’s office.
He took a flight from Srinagar airport on May 24, 2019 to reach Delhi and had returned to Kashmir in a bus following the recce. He also admitted to his Jammu & Kashmir Police interrogators that he also recced the Samba Sector border area in 2019.
He carried out a recce of the Samba border area along with another terrorist who was arrested in the Ban Toll Plaza attack case. J&K Police also found that Malik had provided a Santro car to one terrorist for a fidayeen attack in May 2020.
Investigators said that Malik was deeply entrenched in the terror ecosystem. A senior J&K Police officer said, “He is an important catch. From conducting recce, planning terror attacks to picking and dropping terror operatives, Malik was involved in all.”
Among his disclosures, the key finding was that of the three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who looted the J&K bank cash van in Shopian in November last year. Malik has also disclosed the names of at least eight terrorists he was in touch with. He had also managed to get seven pistols from Chapra in Bihar through one of his associates, Jan Mohammed, a Shopian resident who has been now picked from his Chandigarh residence by J&K Police.
