J&K weapon dropping case: Accused dies of heart attack in jail

Muni Muhammad was offering namaz when he collapsed and he was declared brought dead by doctors, said police

A suspect in the weapon dropping case, who is allegedly accused of collecting and ferrying weapons dropped via drones along the International border in Jammu region, died due to heart attack in the Kotbhalwal jail on Friday.

The undertrial, Muni Muhammad (36), was offering namaz (prayers), along with other prisoners, when he suddenly collapsed. He was shifted to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, officials said. The death of Muhammad happened a day after another accused from Pakistan, who was also allegedly involved in the same case, had died in the jail.

Muhammad, a resident of Rampura village in Jammu’s Kathua district, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month. He was accused of being involved in the May 29 explosive dropping case in Kathua. A drone was shot down near the International Border at Talli, Hariya Chak, Kathua. It was loaded with a Under Barrel Grenade Launcher rounds, sticky bombs, etc. 

Muhammad was being investigated for collecting and ferrying these weapons and explosives that was dropped by drones driven from Pakistan along the border in Jammu region.

Following the death of Muhammad, a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, several prisoners staged a protest inside the jail, boycotting ‘mulakat’ (meeting with relatives), court hearings, and sitting on hunger strike, sources said.

Last year, a Pakistani militant Zia Mustafa, who was accused of killing 24 Kashmiri Pandits in Pulwama’s Nadimarg in 2003, was killed when security forces took him Bhata Durian in Rajouri from the jail to identify a hideout. The police said Mustafa died when “hiding terrorists again opened fire on the joint team of police and army personnel”. The police said two policemen and an army jawan had also sustained injuries.