J-K: House of terror accused razed in Reasi by revenue department

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday demolished an illegal house of a terror accused in Reasi district, officials said.

The house of Mohammad Auraf Sheikh, who was arrested in February for his alleged involvement in carrying out multiple blasts in Katra and Jammu, was illegally constructed on state land at village Baransal in tehsil Mahore, they said.

"The entire exercise was conducted in close co-ordination with district police and in presence of independent witnesses as well as locals of the area," an official spokesman said.

The accused, a government teacher, was terminated by the government when his involvement in the two blasts was established by the police.

He was found involved in two blasts, one in a bus at Kadmal near Katra in 2022 and at Narwal, Jammu in 2023, the spokesman said.

A case under provisions of the Explosive Substance Act was registered at Katra in 2022, and another case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) registered at Jammu in 2023.

The blast at Kadmal was executed by Sheikh with sticky IEDs in which five persons were killed and 28 injured, while nine people were injured in twin IED blasts in Narwal, the officials said.

The action by the administration is a strict message to terror sympathizers and their handlers across the border that the government is committed for zero tolerance towards terrorism, they said.

The spokesman said that state land encroached upon by the accused was retrieved by the district administration after the anti-encroachment drive carried out by revenue department.