AK rifles stolen from PDP MLA given to Hizbul Militants: NIA

NEW DELHI: The AK series rifles stolen by Adil Bashir Sheikh, the former Jammu and Kashmir policemen from the house of PDP legislator, were found after the killing of two Hizbul Muzahideen militants –Idrees Sultan and Amir Hussain during an encounter at Shopian in November 2018, stated the NIA charge sheet filed before a special court in Jammu about a fortnight ago.

Sheikh, according to NIA, was working as SPO with former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA of Wachi, Aijaz Ahmad Mir in Jammu and Kashmir since March 2017. In 2014, he was working as PDP worker but later got involved in cases of stone-pelting and came in contact with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). Sheikh’s maternal cousin Rafique Ahmat Bhat was involved with HM and introduced him to two other militants identified as Yawar Ahmad Dar and Abid Manzoor Majraj. All three along with Sheikh were named by NIA in its charge sheet. The four, NIA said, looted weapons belonging to seven security personnel deployed with Mir . “SPO Sheikh entered the house on the pretext of cleaning it while the other two waited outside in a Maruti Alto car. He had made duplicate keys of the trunk which contained the SPOs's weapons. Thereafter, they decamped with the weapons and ammunition and fled towards village Achan near Pulwama and hid the weapons in a field,” NIA said.