Valley’s women and girls are safe now: IGP

Slain Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Abu Dujana was allegedly involved with several women in Kashmir and had even married one of them, officials said on Tuesday, describing the militant as a terror for women in the Valley.

Dujana, 27, was killed early on Tuesday at Hakripura in Pulwama district, allegedly while visiting a woman believed to be his wife. Kashmir director general of police SP Vaid confirmed that Dujana was married but said it was not clear if the LeT commander had gone to meet her.

“He had married a local Kashmiri girl, today also he had gone to meet a girl, (but) can’t be sure if it was the same girl,” Vaid said.

The GOC of 15 Corps, Lt Gen J Sandhu, told reporters that Dujana was less into militancy off late and more into “aiyashi”, a Hindi word that translates to debauchery. “He was not really involved in many attacks, vo yahan aiyyashi kar raha tha bas,” the army official said.

Kashmir inspector general police (IGP), Muneer Khan, also hinted that Dujana was involved in “harassment of girls”. “I want to tell woman and girls in the Valley that they are safe now,” Khan said.

Another LeT militant was also shot dead along with Dujana while a civilian was killed when security forces fired on stonepelting protesters at the encounter site. Locals in the village and elsewhere said Dujana had gone to meet his wife, whom he had married sometime last year.

They said the woman hails from Singoo village near Kakapora in Pulwama. “It (the marriage) was during 2016 when the LeT maintained a low profile,” a source added. The marriage, sources said, could have been the reason for his rift with his-Pakistan-based handlers.