STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Security forces on Thursday achieved a major success in Kashmir as they gunned down a top Lashkar-e- Taiba militant Abu Musaib, a Pakistani national believed to be the nephew of 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Musaib, a self-styled divisional commander of LeT, was active in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts since August 2015 and was involved in many militancy-related activities including an attack on a CRPF camp on Independence Day in downtown Srinagar last year, police said.
He was killed in an encounter in a village, about 32 kms from here in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, police said.
A police spokesman said the force, aided by Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF personnel, cordoned off Para Mohalla locality of Hajin following specific information about the presence of militants there in the morning.
The hiding militant opened fire on the joint search party, triggering an encounter. The gunfight ended with the killing of a militant who was later identified as Musaib, a Pakistani national, the spokesman said.
“Musaib, reportedly a nephew of LeT operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was functioning as self-style divisional commander of the terrorist group in the Valley,” he said.
An AK-56 rifle, three magazines, 66 rounds, a radio set and three grenades were seized from the encounter site.
“The militant was active in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts since August 2015 and was involved in many militancy -related activities which included weapon snatching of an army personnel of 14 Rashtriya Rifles in Bandipora in October 2015.
“He was responsible for injuring a civilian at Hajin, and firing on an army patrol of 13 Rashtriya Rifles in which two personnel were killed last year.
“He played an active role in organising the Fidayeen attack at Nowhatta locality of downtown Srinagar on August 15 last year,” the spokesman said.
‘LeT behind Uri, Handwara attacks’
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday claimed that terror attacks at army installations in Uri and Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir were carried out by Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). A senior NIA official claimed that one of the four terrorists involved in the attack on the army camp in Handwara managed to flee.
The terrorists had attacked the camp of 30 Rashtriya Rifles in Langate in Handwara in October last year. While three attackers were killed by the security forces, one is believed to have escaped, the official said, adding they were looking into it. Heavily armed terrorists had stormed the army base in Uri sector in September and killed 18 soldiers.
There is proof indicating role of LeT behind Uri and Handwara attacks, he said. Earlier, it was claimed that Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was behind the attack.
NIA is looking into both these cases. The investigation in Uri attack case will gather pace soon as the agency officials earlier could not visit the points of ingress to verify certain leads due to shelling from across the border, the official said. A team of officials is now likely to visit the area from where the terrorists might have entered and attacked the Uri camp, he said.
Talking about the Handwara incident, NIA officials said they recovered cell phones of Samsung and Huawei companies.
These phones worked without SIMs using latest technology and manipulating its configuration, he claimed.
“The NIA had written to both Samsung and Huawei seeking details of these cell phones including information on shipments. Huawei had informed us that the phone was shipped to Pakistan. We are still awaiting response from Pakistan,” the official said.
There are other documents and proof in possession of the NIA that points towards LeT’s involvement in the attack, he said.
Besides, the cell phones’ Global Positioning System (GPS) sets and wireless system were found from the slain terrorists behind the Handwara attack. The NIA is in the process of getting information from Mauritius and Japan about the companies there which would have made these instruments, the official said.
Investigators have also found a diary from one of the slain terrorists and verifying a phone number, believed to be of one of their associates, mentioned there. They also claimed misuse of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter by the terrorists for communication, he said.
