Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday detained the mother and sister-in-law of Sandeep Sharma, alleged to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, who was arrested from Jammu earlier in the day.
Police raided his Ankit Nagar locality house in Muzaffarnagar and detained the two. Praveen, the elder brother of Sandeep aka Aadil, said if his brother was a terrorist, he should be sent to the gallows.
Sandeep is alleged to be a close associate of LeT operative Basheer Lashkari, and is said to have been used by the LeT to rob ATMs and to influence villagers into helping terror groups.
He was allegedly also involved in the killing of SHO Firoz Dar as well, an official said.
It is perhaps for the first time in 28 years that a person from outside Jammu and Kashmir was found involved in terrorist activities in the Valley.
Both the mother and sister-in-law of Sandeep are being interrogated by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (UP ATS) to find more about his connections in the state.
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ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said there was no criminal record of Sandeep. He had gone to Kashmir for welding-related work in 2012.
--IANS
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