A day after that killing of Al-Badr chief Gani Khawja, Jammu and Kashmir police Wednesday said the slain commander was instrumental in recruiting youth into militancy and receiving new groups from across the LoC.
Addressing a presser at police control room (PCR), here, Inspector General Police (GP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said while his two associates managed to flee when cordon was laid in Tujjer area of Sopore on Tuesday evening, Khawaja was killed.
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“He was a senior militant and had crossed over to Pakistan in 2000 before returning in 2002,” he said and added the slain commander was active for five years.
Giving the further timeline of Khawaja’s militant background, Kumar said, “Police arrested him in 2007 and he was booked under PSA. In 2008, he was released. Till December 2015, he was working as over ground worker (OGW). In January 2018, he became active with Hizbul and in 2020, he joined Al-Badr as its chief.
The IGP said that Khawja was instrumental in recruiting youth into his outfit. “He would also receive new militant groups in north Kashmir and also help them to reach south Kashmir. He would provide logistics support to militants and his killing is a big success for police and security forces,” Kumar added.
The IGP Kashmir also said that police achieved a major success by busting two modules of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, who were planning IED or fidayeen (suicide) strikes in south Kashmir. “Police foiled a bid wherein a Jaish module was planning to carry out vehicle-based IED. We arrested a B.A first-year student, who was motivated through social media applications (Sahil Nazir of Pampore). After interrogating him, four more youth were arrested. A vehicle bearing number JKO1 E 0690 was also recovered that was supposed to be used for carrying out a car bomb,” he said.
In another operation, the IGP said that a Lashkar module headed by Umar Khanday, who was involved in Baghat, Srinagar attack, had persuaded one Musaib from Pampore. “We arrested Musaib and he revealed that at his home there was a container carrying 25 kgs of ammonium power that was supposed to be used as IED.
Kumar said that the militants were changing their strategy to attack security forces. “We are alert and plugging the loopholes after conducting security reviews on regular basis,” he said
The Kashmir police chief also said that they have received a tip-off about the presence of The Resistance Front (TRF) chief Abbas in the Chanapora area of Srinagar after which an alert has been sounded. “We received inputs about Abbas’s presence in Chanapora. Frisking has been intensified and all means of intelligence are in active mode,” he added.