Fifth accused in Pulwama attack arrested: NIA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday claimed to have arrested the fifth accused in the attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Group Center in Lethpora.

The accused was identified as Irshad Ahmad Reshi son of Nazir Ahmad Reshi of Ratnipora area of Pulwama district.

“A case RC No. 10/2018/NIA/DLI (Attack on CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora) has been framed against accused Irshad upon disclosures by the two accused Nisar Ahmed Tantray and Syed Hilal Andrabi,” NIA spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman said that the accused Irshad is an active Over Ground Worker (OGW) of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant outfit.

“He was a close associate of slain militant and JeM Commander Noor Mohammad Tantray @ Noor Trali. The attack on CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora was executed under a conspiracy to avenge the death of Noor Trali, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Dec 2017,” he said.

The spokesman said that the Irshad Ahmad Reshi has been found to be a key conspirator who provided logistic support in form of sheltering and transport for the militants and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF Group centre, Lethpora before the attack.

On 14 February 2019, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu Srinagar National highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora near Awantipora in the Pulwama district ,Jammu and Kashmir ,India. The attack resulted in the deaths of 40 central Reserve Police force personnel and the attacker