SRINAGAR: J&K director general of police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Wednesday claimed that al-Qaida-affiliated Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) has been wiped out from Kashmir with the killing of three of its remaining local terrorists.
“The three terrorists — identified as Hamid Lelhari, Naveed and Junaid of AGH — were killed during an encounter with security forces at Awantipora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Tuesday evening, the DGP said at a press conference here.
Singh said Lelhari, Naveed and Junaid were killed as part of the intensified anti-terror operation in Kashmir following the defanging of Article 370 on August 5.
He admitted that initially there was some confusion about the identities of the slain terrorists, but later it was found that all three were locals and belonged to AGH.
The DGP said after the killing of AGH chief Zakir Musa earlier this year, the command of the outfit was given to Lelhari, who motivated Naveed and Junaid of Pulwama to join his organisation. AGH was working in close coordination with Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Hizul Mujahideen.
“Lelhari was active since 2016. He was involved in Kakpora attack as well as killing of policeman Fayaz Ahmed and some civilians,” the DGP said, adding, “He had also been harassing people in Awantipora.”
The police chief said Lelhari, Naveed and Junaid were involved in the killing of truck driver Sharif Khan, a native of Rajasthan, in south Kashmir on October 17. A day later, the trio killed brick-kiln worker S S Sagar from Chhattisgarh and apple trader Charanjit Singh from Punjab in the same area.
Singh said Junaids brother Yasir was also a terrorist belonging to another outfit. “We feel sorry that two of them belonged to the same family and went on a wrong path, the DGP said, adding that the two brothers were involved in the killing of two nomads in Tral earlier this month.
About the present situation, Singh said, “Terrorists are interfering in peoples lives and they are not desisting from killing citizens to stop them from doing their routine work.”
Claiming that since August 5 lesser number of boys have joined militancy compared to the same timeframe in the previous year, Singh urged youths treading the wrong path to shun violence and return to normal life.
The DGP said the situation in Kupwara and Baramulla was normal and it was really difficult to move on the roads there due to traffic. Same was the scene in Read More – Source
