First, of its kind, drone-dropped perfume IED recovered in J&K: Police

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir's police said they had achieved a significant breakthrough on January 21, 2023, in Narwal, Jammu blast case by arresting a banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, who is a government employee and from his possession of a sophisticated "perfume IED" was recovered.

It is the first of its kind of an Improvised Explosive device or IED recovered in Jammu and Kashmir, while police are questioning the arrested persons to understand more details on the use of "Perfume IED.

In a Press Conference today, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh, according to a local news agency Kashmir News Observer disclosed the recovered Perfume IED.

The DGP said that IEDs received by Arif were air-dropped through drones. "He has confessed to the crime."

In the past, Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed IEDs with explosive materials in the shape of a lunchbox, sticky bombs, and timer-fitted IEDs in a gas cylinder or a pressure cooker. Still, it is for the first time that a new type of Perfume IED was recovered in J and K.

In July 2011, the media reported that Airport security officials are now watching out for passengers carrying perfume bottles following an intelligence alert that warns of a perfume bottle-based improvised explosive device threat.

The police chief said the recovered "IED is in a bottle form and seems like a perfume bottle but contains explosive material."

The police chief added that "since the IED is new to us, experts will see how harmful and powerful it can be. We have not touched it so far." Police sources said a forensic team would examine the recovered IED.

Police said a major success was achieved in arresting one Arif Ahmed, a resident of the Reasi district of Jammu. "Arif is a government employee and is an active militant of the Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit. He was working at the behest of Qasim, a Reasi resident and his uncle Qamardin, also a Reasi resident, presently in Pakistan, who are part of LeT," the DGP said.

Police Chief said Arif was involved in three IED blast incidents—Shahstri Nagar, Katra and the January 21 incident of Narwal, Jammu. Police Chief added that "the main aim of these IEDs is to target innocent people and trigger communal hatred in the Jammu region.

Since the last few months, the terrorists have shifted their base targeting the Jammu area, and terrorist-related incidents of firings and killings have been reported in Jammu. Four terrorists were gunned down in Jammu a couple of months ago while travelling in a truck towards Srinagar.

Civilian killings in Danghri, Rajouri, by terrorists, were also reported last month.

The police chief said. To query the Danghri, Rajouri incident and the probe's fate, the DGP said that the investigations are advanced and the output will be shared with the media shortly.

Asked about further links of Arif and possible Kashmir connection, the DGP said that it has been seen that Kashmiri youth are coming to Jammu for militancy or, for that matter, Jammu youth going to Kashmir. "Further investigations are on," he said.

The police chief further added that "Arif will not only lose his job, but a strong dossier will be prepared against him. He was a very clever operative. He had burnt all the evidence, including his clothes and shoes and even set his mobile phone ablaze. But police worked hard on even small inputs and that led to the arrest of Arif."