Five Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants have been arrested from Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the killing of a circus worker, Deepak Kumar, last month, police said on Friday.

Kumar (27), a resident of Udhampur district, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne militants from a close range when he had gone to the market to buy milk on the night of May 29. He worked at a circus in the Janglat Mandi area in the south Kashmir district.

Addressing a press conference in Anantnag, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), South Kashmir Range, Rayees Mohammad Bhat said five JeM militants have been arrested in connection with Kumar's killing.

"Investigations and searches were launched after the incident. During the investigations, we got some technical leads and some clues. In the meantime, we zeroed in on some suspects and they were interrogated," Bhat said.

He said the investigations pointed at two people, Sehran Bashir Nadaf and Ubaid Nazir Laigroo, both residents of Anantnag town who had gone missing.

"We launched a massive search operation to nab them. Based on technical and human intelligence, we were ultimately able to arrest these two accused after which the whole conspiracy was revealed," he said.

Apart from Nadaf and Laigroo, three other militants -- Umer Amin Thoker, Huzaif Shabir Bhat and Nasir Farooq Shah -- have been arrested, the DIG said.

So far, one AK-47 rifle, one AK-47 magazine, 40 AK-47 rounds, two pistols, two pistol magazines, seven pistol rounds and empty cartridges each, three hand grenades, seven mobile phones and a scooty have been recovered. Further leads are being followed, he said.

Bhat said this group of militants had been working in south Kashmir for some time.

"We expect more arrests and further revelations. This a classic example of a hybrid terrorist module," he said.

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