A day after ‘Azadi’ and anti-India slogans were raised by Islamists at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir police apprehended the mastermind behind the genocidal sloganeering, reported The Tribune.
The accused, identified as Basharat Nabi Bhat, is a resident of Hawal in Nowhatta town of Srinagar. While confirming the development, officials associated with the Srinagar police informed that raids were conducted by the cops at several locations for arresting Bhat.
The Tribune reported that several suspects were summoned for interrogation and formal arrests would be made once their role becomes clear in the Friday incident. The police are also investigating the Pakistani angle in connection to the case.
“It also came out that the main accused had received instructions from Pakistan-based handlers of terror outfits to disrupt Friday prayers in Jamia Masjid and cause law and order situation,” the police told The Tribune.
The Background of the Case
On Friday (April 8), the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar reverberated with Azadi and anti-India slogans, following the Jumma Namaz. A large mob, which had gathered for the Friday prayers, was heard chanting Azadi slogans and hailing terrorist Zakir Musa.
Musa was the Chief of the terrorist group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and was neutralised by the Indian Army in an encounter in May 2019. Ashraf Wani, a journalist with India Today group, had shared a video clip where Islamists could be heard shouting slogans that called for secession from India.
Along with Azadi slogans, screams of “Nara e Taqbeer, Allahu Akbar” could be heard in the video clip attached by Wani. Stone-pelting was also witnessed outside the mosque where personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force were deployed.
Earlier, journalist Aditya Raj Kaul reported that the Jammu and Kashmir police had initiated action against those who raised pro-Islamist terror slogans inside the mosque.
