On Thursday, January 4, the special cell of Delhi Police arrested Javed Ahmed Mattoo, a wanted terrorist associated with Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir. In a joint operation conducted with central agencies, the Delhi police team nabbed the dreaded terrorist from the national capital and recovered a pistol, six live cartridges and a stolen car from him.
Javed Mattoo is a resident of Sopore and has been to Pakistan many times. Mattoo was involved in five grenade attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. He was also involved in the killing of five police personnel in different incidents. Mattoo has been active in Jammu and Kashmir since 2010.
Besides indulging in terror activities, Mattoo also managed finances and logistics, including the procurement of weapons from ISI handlers across the border.
In 2019, Mattoo was featured in the list of 10 most wanted terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The list also included other top terrorists including Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) Shopian district commander Wasim Ahmed alias Osama, Hizbul’s Anantnag district commander Mohd Ashraf Khan and the Baramulla district commander Mehraj-Ud-Din and others.
He was carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
Speaking about the arrest, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), H.G.S. Dhaliwal, said, “Sometime back, a tip-off was received saying that Mattoo would be arriving in the National Capital Region (NCR) to collect arms and ammunition. The Special Cell then activated its sleeper cells.”
On Thursday, specific information was received that Mattoo is in Delhi to acquire weapons at the behest of the Pakistan ISI, with plans to execute terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and another location.
“Acting on this precise input, a raiding team successfully apprehended Mattoo from the Nizamuddin area, and seized a 9 mm pistol, six live cartridges, an extra magazine, and a stolen Santro car from his possession. A case has been registered at the Special Cell police station,” the officer said.
“He is the lone surviving A++ category terrorist based out of Jammu and Kashmir. He had earlier gone into hiding after escaping to Nepal on the directions of the ISI. The J&K police were actively pursuing him,” the officer said.
The Special CP also revealed that Mattoo had received a bullet injury on his leg by security forces during an encounter 10 years ago. “This had impacted his ability to directly engage in attacks against security forces, as he used to before the incident,” he added.