The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has claimed to have arrested a 24-year-old carpenter-cum-contract killer, who was assigned by the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to kill the Dasna Devi temple’s head priest Swami Narsinghanand who had recently made controversial comments against Prophet Mohammed. The accused has been identified as Jaan Mohammad Dar, a resident of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir. Police said that he was apprehended from a hotel in Delhi’s Paharganj area.
“Police searched his luggage and recovered a .30 bore pistol, two magazines, 15 live rounds, one orange coloured kurta, one white pyjama and one bead mala from his possession,” said a senior police official.
“During interrogation, Dar said that he works as a carpenter. He was booked for stone pelting earlier in 2016 at the time of the death of Burhan Wani,” he said.
“It was also revealed that he met one Abid in December 2020. Abid informed Dar that he was from Pakistan and associated with the JeM. Over the period, they became good friends and met twice, first in December 2020 and later in April this year. However, they were constantly in touch with each other on WhatsApp,” he added. In February 2021, he, along with his sister and her father-in-law, came to Delhi for the treatment of his nephew who has some heart ailment. They stayed at a guest house in Jama Masjid, police said.
When he returned to Kashmir after the treatment of his nephew, he met Abid again and he assigned him with the task to assassinate Swami Narsinghanand for his comments against Muslims and against the Prophet.
According to Dar’s statement to the police, Abid then gave him a pistol and taught him how to use it. Dar was promised a substantial sum of money for killing the priest, the police said. He was also given Rs 6,500 cash and Rs 35,000 in his bank account before leaving for Delhi, it said. On April 23, Dar left for Delhi, where he met Abid’s contact Umar.
The police said that Umar took Dar to one of his hideouts for three days and later shifted him to a hotel in Paharganj. According to the police, Umar brought the puja items and the saffron dress as a cover to gain entry into the temple. Further, Dar and Umar received an arms consignment from another person on the flyover near his hotel, the police said.
The Delhi Police had registered an FIR in April against Narsinghanand for hurting the sentiments of a community on a complaint from AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
