‘Dujana helped set up al-Qaeda cell in India’
Terror outfit’s Valley chief Zakir Musa calls him ‘first martyr’ in the war for an Islamic Kashmir in a yet to be verified audio clip
SRINAGAR: Slain militant commander Abu Dujana was the “first martyr” in the war for an Islamic Kashmir and helped set up an al-Qaeda cell in India, the global terror outfit’s Valley chief Zakir Musa has allegedly claimed.
Mus a, a hard line militant, said in a purported statement on Friday that Du jan a and Ar if Lelhari, both of whom were killed by security forces on August 1, had left the Le T to joint heal-Q a ed a, once led by Osama bin-Laden.
Hindustan Times could not verify the authenticity of the video message but officials said the voice matched earlier audio clips released by Musa, who left the Hizbul Muja hide en this year.
The al-Qaeda’s claims of making inroads in Kashmir could potentially open a new front in the Valley, which is witnessing a spurt in militant activities and civilian protests since the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani last year.
State DGP SP Vaid said there was no way of authenticating the audio clips but added there were reports suggesting Musa and Dujana were close.
“They had made similar claims about al-Qaeda presence in Valley in 2003 as well. We need to see what kind of backing they have, but for us a terrorist is a terrorist, no matter which organisation he belongs to ,” V aid told HT.
Dujana, a 27-year-old from PoK, led the LeT in Kashmir before he fell out with the outfit for allegedly marrying a local girl. Musa, however, said Dujana’s differences with his Pakistan-based handlers arose after he decided to join the al-Qaeda.
“They decided to join the cause of Islam the moment they heard about it and played a major role in formation of Ansar Ghawzat-UlHind (the Islamic name of the local al-Q a ed a group ),” Mus a said in the video statement juxtaposed with photographs of Dujana, Musa and Lelhari.
“Those who used to call them traitors are shamelessly paying homage to them,” Musa said in the statement, his first since being named Kashmir’ s al-Q a ed a chief by a propaganda channel affiliated to the outfit.
On Friday, social media in Kashmir was abuzz with news about another widely-circulated audio clip, said to be the last message from Dujana and Arif.
Though it was claimed to have been recorded during the encounter with forces, no gun fire is heard in the background.
Two voices in the clip claim their allegiance to al-Qaeda and ask people not to unfurl Pakistani flags during their funeral.
“Only use the flag of tawheed (a flag with islamic inscriptions about Allah being the only God ),” the voices can be heard saying. Hindustan Times doesn’t claim authenticity of the audio.