Srinagar, March 11 (KNS): The security grid of Kashmir on Monday claimed to have killed a Jaish-e-Muhammad militant who was the “main conspirator” of the deadly suicide attack on CRPF convoy at Lethpora, Pulwama on February 14 that claimed 40 CRPF men and left two dozen injured.
The police, army and the CRPF said that one of the slain militants identified as Mudasir Khan of Tral killed in Pulwama gunfight that broke out on Sunday was the main hand behind the Lethpora attack and also the person who would recruit young boys into the Jaish fold.
According to KNS correspondent while addressing the joint press conference at the Srinagar-based 15 Corps headquarters here, GoC KJS Dhillon, IGP Kashmir S P Pani, and IG CRPF Zulfikar Hassan said that during the Pinglish encounter that started on Sunday, they killed Mudasir Ahmed Khan alias Muhammad Bhai and also another militant identified as Khalid of Pakistan while search at the encounter site was on as three weapons were recovered there.
“He was the mastermind, rather the main conspirator of the Pulwama attack,” GoC Dhillon said. “Earlier, on February 18, we killed Kamran, who was a Jaish militant too along with his close aide Rashid alias Gazi. Kamran was the chief operational commander of Jaish in Kashmir.”
The encounter lasted past midnight. “The family members of Khan have taken his body,” he said. Forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Pinglish after receiving specific intelligence about the presence of militants in the area.
He said that 23-year-old Khan, an electrician with a graduate degree and a resident of Pulwama, arranged the vehicle and explosives used in the strike.
A resident of Mir Mohalla of Tral, Khan joined the JeM sometime in 2017 as an overground worker and was later drawn into the terror outfit by Noor Mohammed Tantrey, alias 'Noor Trali', who is believed to have helped the JeM’s revival in the Kashmir. After Tantray was killed in December 2017, Khan disappeared from his home on January 14, 2018, and was active since then.
Speaking on the occasion, IGP Kashmir said that forces have killed 18 militants in the past fortnight of which 14 belonged to Jaish, two to Lashkar-e-Toiba and two to Hizbul Mujahideen. Chipping in, the GoC said that more focus was on Jaish leadership and militants to ensure Pulwama like attacks don’t re-occur.
The top forces’ brass didn’t reveal the actual number of militants operating in Kashmir and that there was a significant dip in the local militant recruitment in Kashmir. Asked about the convoy movement, the GoC Dhillon said that a people friendly convoy movement has been taking place to cause less trouble to civilians. “No harassment is being done to the local travellers,” he said. (KNS)