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Updated: Apr 14, 2019 23:46 IST

The National Investigation Agency on Sunday said that it arrested the fifth person allegedly involved in the December 2017 CRPF group centre attack in Lethpora, Pulwama in which five CRPF personnel and three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants were killed.

Irshad Ahmad Reshi, a resident of Ratnipora in Pulwama and allegedly an “over the ground worker (OGW) of the JeM”, was a key conspirator of the 2017 attack, a spokesman of NIA said.

“Reshi has been found to be a key conspirator who provided logistic support in form of sheltering and transport for the terrorists and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF Group centre, Lethpora before the terrorist attack,” he said. He was arrested from Pulwama.

He is the fifth accused to have been arrested in the case upon disclosures of the other accused.

Fayaz Ahmad Magrey of Lethpora, Manzoor Ahmed Bhat of Pampore, Nisar Ahmed Tantray of Dar Ganai Gund in Tral, and Syed Hilal Andrabi of Ratnipora in Pulwama have been arrested earlier in the case.

The NIA spokesman said that Reshi was a close associate of the slain militant and JeM Commander Noor Mohammad Tantray alias Noor Trali.

“The attack on CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora was executed under a conspiracy to avenge the death of Noor Trali, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Dec 2017,” the spokesman said.

On the intervening night of December 30-31, 207, three JeM militants attacked CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora killing five CRPF personnel. The three militants were also killed in the attack.

The NIA said that Irshad Ahmed Reshi will be produced before the Special NIA court, Jammu on Monday with a request for grant of police custody for further investigation.