The National Investigation Agency is set to take over the probe into the escape of a militant from a Srinagar hospital while under police custody on February 6. The investigating agency on Monday registered a case in connection with the shooting at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital that helped militant Mohammed Naveed Jat escape from police custody, senior officials told Scroll.in.
Two policemen were killed after Jat, who was taken for a routine check up at the hospital, had opened fire. Jat is known to be a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Abu Qasim, and was arrested from Kulgam in 2014.
On February 7, militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Its commander Riyaz Naikoo released an eight-minute audio clip in which he said his men raided the hospital to free Jat, alias Abu Hanzula. Jat had reached South Kashmir safely, he added.
On February 8, the police arrested four people in connection with the case. The four were held after the police conducted overnight raids in South Kashmir’s Pulwama and Shopian districts. The police had tracked down a motorcycle and another vehicle that the attackers used to flee after the shooting.
The Mehbooba Mufti government had suspended Hilal Ahmad Rather, the superintendent of the Srinagar central jail, where Jat had been lodged. (Scroll )
