Five LeT operatives held outside Srinagar

Police arrested five Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives for planning to carry out a failed car bomb attack on the outskirts of Srinagar last month but three others including the mastermind remained at large, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Deputy Inspector General of Police for central Kashmir Ahfad ul-Mujtaba told reporters that the five men were involved in different stages of planning the car bomb attack including procuring the explosives.

Those arrested were identified as Ayaz Ahmad Malik, Bilal Ahmad Malik, Khursheed Ahmad Bhat, Mohammad Yousuf Lone, all residents of south Kashmir's Pulwama district and Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat of Zewan.

The DIG said that Lone was a police informer before he switched sides to the militant group.

Militants had attempted to detonate a car bomb on May 17 near Chanapora, on the outskirts of Srinagar city.

The vehicle, fitted with explosives, was, however, detected by the police before it could detonate and later a controlled explosion was carried out by the Bomb Disposal Squad.