Srinagar, Oct 29 (KNS): In an operation which police called a major success, security forces gunned down Lashkar-e-Toiba’s divisional commander in Kashmir, Abu Qasim, in an encounter in Kulgam district on Thursday night.
Inspector General of Police Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said that police and army in a joint operation killed Qasim when they laid a cordon in Khandaypora village in Kulgam at 5 pm on Thursday.
“We had information that there are chances that Abu Qasim might come to the village. We laid a cordon at 5 pm and Abu Qasim came at 2 am in the night. He was killed in a brief encounter,” Gillani told media persons at police headquarters here.
“Qasim’s killing is a major success for us as it has dented the operation capabilities of LeT. It would be a setback for LeT,” Gillani said.
Qasim alias Abu Rehman according to IGP, was the mastermind behind the Udhampur attack in which a Pakistani militant Naveed was caught alive earlier this year.
Qasim, who was active in Kashmir from the last five years, was on the NIA radar, and a bounty of Rs 20 lakhs had been placed on his head.
Before operating in south Kashmir, Qasim was active in North Kashmir, police said, adding he had kept security forces on tenterhooks from the year 2011, when he had taken the command of the militant outfit in the Valley.
In his early thirties, Qasim, who according to police hailed from Bahawalpur in Multan, was the brain behind the deadly attack on an Army convoy in Srinagar in 2013, which had left eight soldiers dead.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelThe attack had taken place on the eve of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the Valley.
Security forces believe that his killing might bring down the militants’ striking activity in the Valley for sometime.
“Qasim headed the LeT form the last three years, and was actively involved in some major attacks on security forces and was the brain behind these attacks,” he said.
Gillani said Qasim was working closely with other militant outfits in the state like Hizbul Mujahideen.
“It (Qasim’s death) is a big dent to militancy,” he said.
The Kashmir police chief said Qasim was also responsible for the killing of a leading counter-insurgency police officer, Sub-Inspector Altaf Ahmed, in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district earlier this month.
Police claimed the LeT commander was also involved in the attack on BSF bus in Pampore area in 2014, in which six personnel were injured. He had also planned and directed different attacks on police parties in Pampore and Chadoora in which an SHO, three policemen and one army, personnel were killed and arms were snatched.
“Abu Qasim was also involved in directing the attack on police party in Pulwama court in which two SPO's were killed. Police claims that Abu Qasim had also ordered the attack o the attack on Dr Jalal, former director of SK Institute of Medical Sciences,” a police spokesman said in a statement. (KNS)