Bail for three Jaish OGWs with GPS anklets

JAMMU: J&K Police have fitted GPS anklets on three alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad overground workers (OGWs) out on interim bail after court orders.

Mool Raj, Layaket Ali and Maqbool had been in jail over a 2024 attack on an army convoy in Jammu’s Kathua that left five soldiers dead. The release and the anklets followed orders of the Kathua principal district and sessions judge on Wednesday.

The trackers are secured around the ankle, enabling real-time location tracking and ensuring strict adherence to bail conditions. “The devices were fitted under SSP Mohita Sharma’s supervision to ensure continuous monitoring of the movements of the accused,” a police spokesperson said.

The trio were arrested on July 25, 2024, as security agencies combed the upper reaches of Kathua for people who aided the terrorists involved in the July 8 ambush that resulted in the five army casualties and left an equal number of personnel wounded.

According to the police spokesperson, Raj, Ali and Maqbool had allegedly helped the terrorists with logistics, including Wi-fi facilities. They face several charges, including those related to waging war against the nation and withholding crucial information about the terror strike from law-enforcers.

The three were arrested after investigations in which the cops scanned and quizzed over 100 individuals. Preventive measures have been initiated against more than 40 individuals to mitigate further risks and disrupt any potential support systems for terrorist activities, the spokesperson said.

J&K Police became the country’s first force to use GPS anklets in 2023 when it attached one to a terror suspect named Ghulam Mohd Bhat. The trackers have long been used in the US, UK, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand to monitor suspects on bail, parole and house arrest and, in some cases, to decongest prisons.

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