In one year, Dujana gave security forces the slip over a dozen times Another killed was just 15 yrs old, had joined militancy while in Class 8
BLOODY END He was finally cornered when he went to visit his ‘wife’ in Hakripora on Monday
Slain Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) commander Abu Dujana had managed to give security forces the slip more than a dozen times in the past one year, according to officials.
Described as very fast by the intelligence dossier, Dujana was finally neutralised early on Tuesday. His involvement with a woman in Pulwama finally led to his killing.
Anointed Lashkar commander for south Kashmir following the killing of his predecessor Abu Qasim in 2015, Dujana — which is his nom de guerre and has been given to many Lashkar operatives in the Valley in the past — was involved with at least two women in Pulwama alone.
While one was reportedly his wife, another is believed to be his former girlfriend.
Security forces had been keeping a watch on his wife’s residence in Hakripora where he was spotted going on Monday night, which led to the launch of search and cordon operation in the area.
It is not for the first time that the involvement of militants with women has led to their fall in the Valley.
Security officials said Abdullah Uni, a top ranked Lashkar terrorist, was killed in 2011 following a tip-off from a woman he was seeing. Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's location was revealed by his former girlfriend too. Wani’s killing last year in July led to wide-spread protests in the Valley.
“Of late, Dujana was not very active and another Lashkar operative Abu Ismail has taken his place. He was more involved in women,” said a security official.
Ismail is believed to be the mastermind of recent attack on a bus carrying Amarnath yatris.
His dossier says he was involved in the two attacks on the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in Pampore, near Srinagar last year. He was also involved in the attack on a BSF bus in Udhampur.
He also had a hand in a series of bank robberies in the Valley at Chari Sharif, Arihal and Ratnipora.
According the dossier, Ismail was short-tempered and it was his biggest his weakness.
Dujana, who joined militancy in 2010 at the age of 20, was believed to be from Balochistan in Pakistan.
Union home ministry spokesperson Ashok Prasad said Dujana replaced Abu Qasim as the Lashkar commander for south Kashmir after his killing in 2015.
“A local Lashkar militant Arif Nabi Dar was also killed in encounter along with Dujana,” added Prasad.
Arif Dar, a young budding cricketer studying in Class 8 in a private school in Kakapora, left home on August 25, 2015, with ~70 and his cricket uniform in a backpack. Almost two years later, the 15-year-old returned home dead.
Dar alias Arif Lelhari, killed in the encounter with dreaded LeT militant Abu Dujana in Pulwama on Tuesday, was the youngest to have joined militancy at the age of 13. Hindustan Times had visited the young militant’s family last month as part of its series Lets Talk about Kashmir.
According to the family, Arif’s uneducated father always dreamt of giving him a good education. “He was studying in a private school (evergreen private school) although we weren’t that well off,’’ his elder sister Saima said.
When Arif left home, according to police records, he was a few months over 13 years. He had told his family that his team was playing a match in Srinagar and he would be back. “We lodged a police complaint, as we though he might have been kidnapped. Even the police felt bad for us,’’ his mother Saja recalled.
The family said he was only interested in cricket and they were in for a shock when his guntotting pictures appeared on social media. According to a police source, both Dujana and Lelhari were given an option to surrender but they did not budge.
While the family ruled out “surrender as an option’’ saying Arif was “working in the name of Allah’’, a few residents of the area questioned the handlers who induct young children in their ranks. However, thousands turned up to take part in his last rites.
Of late, Dujana was not very active and another Lashkar operative Abu Ismail had taken his place. Dujana was more involved in women.