2 min readJammuJul 26, 2026 06:36 AM IST
The Jammu and Kashmir Police Saturday executed an NIA court proclamation directing Pakistan-based cross-border terror handler Mohammad Qasim alias Salman to appear before it on August 21 in connection with the 2022-23 Katra and Narwal blasts.
The police said it read out the proclamation at Qasim’s residence in Angralla village in Reasi district. The Katra and Narwal blasts together killed 13 people.
The police asked the public to share any credible information on Qasim with the nearest police station. Qasim, who is believed to have crossed over to Pakistan, is wanted in multiple cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a police spokesperson said.
The court order was issued under Section 84 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which empowers a court to issue a written notice requiring an accused individual to appear before it.
“Failure to comply within the stipulated period shall invite further legal proceedings under Section 85 of the BNSS,” the spokesperson said. Section 85 of the BNSS deals with the attachment of property belonging to a person who is absconding.
Four people were killed and 22 others injured when a bus carrying Shri Mata Vaishnodevi pilgrims caught fire after an explosion caused by sticky bombs at Kharmal on May 13, 2022. A lesser-known terror outfit, Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), had claimed responsibility for the explosion.
Nine people were injured in twin IED explosions in Narwal on January 21, 2023.
Story continues below this ad
Meanwhile, dismissed police officer Devinder Singh has been granted five-day parole on humanitarian grounds to attend his father’s funerary rituals in Srinagar between July 27 and 30.
Singh’s father died on July 17. Rejecting the ex-cop’s plea for 20-day bail, the court said he had already appealed against its decision denying regular bail but, in view of the circumstances, allowed him to attend the rituals.
Singh, currently lodged in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail, was part of the police anti-hijacking cell at Srinagar airport when he was arrested while ferrying alleged Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, including its self-styled commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq, in a car. He was subsequently chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and dismissed from service in 2021.