Lucknow: The anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of UP police arrested two Kashmiri youths from a private hostel in Deoband town of Saharanpur for their links with terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. Investigations revealed the two were in touch with their JeM handlers in the Valley and had been assigned the task of making local recruits. Police recovered a .32 bore country-made pistol and 30 live cartridges from them.The accused have been identified as Shahnawaz Teli of Kulgam and Aqib Ahmad Malik of Pulwama, both in their twenties. Neither was studying in any institute at Deoband, but was putting up at a private boys' hostel in Mohalla Khanqah locality of the town. According to sources, nine suspects were initially detained for questioning but later only two were arrested. Others were released.“We retrieved chat conversations which prove they were exchanging videos and jihadi literature with Jaish handlers in the Valley,” said director general of police (DGP) OP Singh.He said arrests were made following specific inputs from a local madrassa student to police, who in turn informed ATS. “Shahnawaz has emerged as an expert in grenade manufacture while Aqib is skilled in handling ammunition. It was established they were living in hostels for over a year, but were not enrolled in any institute. We are also probing the source of funds of the two accused,” Singh said, adding the two were out to recruit local youths for Jaish.Inspector General of police (ATS) Asim Arun, who was camping in Saharanpur to supervise the operation, told TOI the two accused were being brought to Lucknow on a transit remand and will be further questioned after being produced in an ATS court. “Shahnawaz was staying in Deoband since September 2017 while Aqib joined him in 2018,” Arun said. He said police seized evidence from their cell phones that confirm the two used different Apps for communication with handlers and later deleted them. The duo would frequently visit Kashmir and then return to Deoband. “We are interrogating them to ascertain the identity of recruits,” said Arun.Asked whether the two men were involved in the Pulwama terror attack, Singh said, "It's difficult to tell. The probe is on."Speaking on the arrests of two JeM suspects, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, “Our government has gunned down the mastermind. We had an operation in UP last night. The terrorism is in its last chapter and it will end under Modi,” he said during an event in the city.

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