J-K police arrests five persons for facilitating Lashkar militant's escape from Srinagar's SMHS hospital

Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday arrested five people who had facilitated the escape of Pakistani militant Naveed Jutt alias Abu Hanzalla from custody during a visit to SMHS Hospital here on Tuesday, officials said.

Police conducted overnight raids at several places in south Kashmir's Pulwama district and arrested five persons who were allegedly involved in helping the escape of Hanzala from police custody, the officials said.

Hanzala managed to escape after at least two other militants attacked the police escort team at SMHS Hospital here, killing two cops. An alert was sounded immediately and a massive search operation was launched to hunt down the Pakistani militant and his accomplices.