Journalist Adil Farooq Bhat Held With 2 Live Grenades in Srinagar

Adil Farooq Bhat, A 26-year-old man was arrested with two live grenades at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Tuesday

On Tuesday, a 26-year-old man was apprehended carrying two live grenades in Srinagar's Lal Chowk. Adil Farooq Bhat, according to police, works as a journalist for CNS News Agency a local news organization. The accused is a Khrew Pampore inhabitant.

The J&K Police received first information about a man carrying grenades in the afternoon and passed it on to the CRPF and SSB, who secured several security strategic sites in and around the Lalchowk region.

Minutes before the arrest, five local Kashmiris, including two ladies, were injured in a grenade attack on Hari Singh High Street near Srinagar's Amira Kadal neighbourhood.

DIG Central Kashmir Amit Kumar and SSP Srinagar Sandeep Chaudhary were interrogating the apprehended man, according to a top official who confirmed the development to CNN-News18.

This arrest is seen as a big development in J&K Police's crackdown on terror organisations' ground support.

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A bigger terror network including Pakistan-based extremist organisations is suspected by J&K Police. Farooq was arrested on suspicion of spreading propaganda under the guise of being a journalist, acting as a courier for terror groups, and engaging in direct terror acts.

Farooq was detained for terror affiliations in 2019 after the J&K Police used the Public Safety Act (PSA) against him.

“You met with several extremists under whose influence you acquired a militant ideology,” Farooq's PSA dossier, dated February 1, 2019, stated. As a result, you developed a relationship with Hurriyat leader Bilal Gani Lone, under whose orders you continued to promote the same idea among the inhabitants and youth of the area.

You have also worked as an overground worker for one militant, Mohammad Ayoub Lone alias pilot of the banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and his other militant associates. As a local, you are familiar with the topography of the area, which allows for the safe transportation of illegal arms and ammunition through unconventional routes and away from security forces.”

“Moreover, you were providing them with all possible assistance, including food, shelter, logistics, and transportation from one location to another, in relation to which case vide FIR number 20/2017 under sections 18,19,20,39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is registered in the police station,” the dossier continued.

“You were unable to change your ways and instead chose to carry on with your rebellious activities. It reads, "Remaining your (sic) at large would represent a threat to the state's security, particularly at a time when the environment is already inflamed."