Pulwama man contracted for killing temple priest arrested: Delhi Police

New Delhi : The Delhi Police on Monday claimed to have arrested a man who was allegedly contracted for killing Dasna Devi temple’s head priest Swami Yati Narsinghanand.
Senior police officials said John Mohammad Dar, a resident of Pulwama district in South Kashmir, was apprehended from a hotel in Paharganj here along with a pistol and two magazines as well as with saffron clothes, allegedly for using it as a cover to gain entry into the temple situated in Ghaziabad neighbouring Delhi.
The Delhi Police had registered an FIR in April against the religious leader for allegedly hurting the sentiments of a community on a complaint from AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
The police recovered a .30 bore pistol, two magazines, 15 live rounds, one saffron kurta, one white ‘pajama’, a ‘kalawa’ and wooden beads from his possession.
During interrogation, Dar told the police that he is a carpenter by profession and was booked by the Sangam police station in Anantnag for pelting stones in 2016 during the time of terrorist Burhan Wani’s death, police said.
He had come across a man named Abid while roaming in his fields in December last year who had informed him that he was from Pakistan and associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), police said.
They became good friends and met twice after that — first in December 2020 and then in April 2021. They also were constantly in touch with each other on WhatsApp, police said.
In February, he, along with his sister and her father-in-law, came to Delhi for treatment of his nephew who has some heart ailment. They stayed at a guest house near Jama Masjid, police said.
When he returned to Kashmir after the treatment of his nephew, Abid assigned him with the task to assassinate Swami Narsinghanand, saying the head priest of the temple had committed ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool’, officials said.
Abid taught him weapons handling and gave Rs 6,500 ca Abid also transferred Rs 35,000 in Dar’s account. Thereafter, Abid asked Dar to go to Delhi and procure weapon from one of his sources, police said.
Abid promised Dar that he would be paid a substantial amount for carrying out the assassination. Abid informed that a person named Umar will take care of him in Delhi, police said.
On April 23, the accused left for Delhi. Dar and Umar kept in touch with each other through an app named Telegram. Umar was supposed to arrange his recce and stay in Delhi and also to provide access to Yati Narsinghanand to carry out his killing, officials said.
Dar met Umar in Jama Masjid area who shifted him to a hotel in Paharganj. Umar also brought the puja items and saffron dress as a cover to gain entry in the temple, police said.
Later, he, along with Umar, received the arms from another person on a flyover near his hotel, police said