J-K Police arrest 18-year-old female ‘suicide bomber’ in south Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday night arrested an 18-year-old girl suspected to be a suicide bomber. Security personnel were on high alert following intelligence inputs that a girl from Pune may attempt a suicide attack in Kashmir valley on Republic Day.

Police sources confirmed that the girl, along with an accomplice, has been arrested, and that a probe is underway. “We are trying to obtain details about her plans,” a police official said.

Central intelligence agencies had sounded to the state police that a woman from Pune, identified as Sadiya Anwar Shaikh, had shifted herself to Kashmir Valley and was in regular touch with ISIS operatives, officials said.

A communication sent by Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir stated that a girl from Maharashtra who is ‘in the Valley may cause a bomb explosion near or inside the Republic Parade venue in the Kashmir Valley’.

Security was beefed up in Srinagar as well as in other parts of the state and those attending Republic Day celebrations were thoroughly checked.