The weapon used in the attack, a pistol, has been recovered

The terrorist who killed two labourers from Punjab here last week has been arrested, a senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer said on Tuesday.

The weapon used in the attack, a pistol, has been recovered, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Vijay Kumar told a press conference here.

"Adil Manzoor Langoo, the terrorist who opened fire on the two labourers from Punjab in the Habba Kadal area of the city on February 7, has been arrested," he said.

Langoo, a resident of Zaldagar here, carried out the attack on the directions of his handler in Pakistan, Kumar said, and added that he was arrested from Srinagar.

While Amritpal Singh was killed on the spot in the February 7 attack, Rohit Masih died during treatment at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences a day later.

"It has come to the fore that the accused had conspired with his handler in Pakistan for commission of the crime," Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, VK Birdi, told the press conference.

Langoo, he said, was a highly motivated and radicalised individual. "His handler in Pakistan radicalised him on social media and motivated him to carry out the attack," Birdi said.

The February 7 incident was the first targeted killing of the year by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and the responsibility for it was taken by the banned 'The Resistance Front (TRF)', a shadow group of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba.

Birdi said that the weapon was provided to Langoo by his handler and this further "motivated him to carry out the attack".

Langoo tracked Singh and Masih in the lanes of Habba Kadal and fired on them, killing Singh on the spot, he said.

The victims were attacked when they were on way to their rented accommodation in the area after returning to Srinagar from Punjab's Amritsar, Birdi said.

Courtesy: The Tribune India: 13th Feb , 2024