35 years on the run, ‘successful businessman’ arrested for 1991 Jammu railway blast

On Thursday, the Railway Police in Jammu made a significant breakthrough in a 35-year-old case of the Jammu Railway Station bombing. Alleged mastermind Altaf Hussain Sheikh, a resident of Bijbehara, Anantnag, has been arrested after two years of a relentless search by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Jammu. The blast, which occurred on the Platform No. 1 of Jammu Railway Station on March 8, 1991, resulted in the death of three individuals and injury to 18 others.

Sheikh, who had been living under a false identity and operating as a successful businessman in Bijbehara, was apprehended after the GRP conducted an in-depth investigation into his identity and residential details. The arrest is the second in the case, with the first arrest made on the day of the blast involving Aman Ullah Khan.

The remaining accused are yet to be apprehended. All suspects in the case are facing charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1991. Sheikh was presented before a TADA court on Thursday.