MILITANT FROM SHOPIAN LIKELY TO LEAD LeT IN VALLEY: INTEL
Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which on Thursday lost one of its commanders in an encounter, will likely choose a Kashmiri face to head the group in south Kashmir, suggest latest intelligence reports.
According to sources in J&K police as well as the CRPF, 28-year-old Zeenat-ul-Islam is most likely to be made the LeT commander in Kashmir. On Thursday, Abu Ismail believed to be behind the Amarnath Yatra attack this year, was killed in an encounter with security forces in the outskirts of Srinagar. While officials are yet to confirm that Zeenat has taken Ismail’s place, sources in security forces said the 28-year-old is the most likely probable.
A resident of Sugan Zanipura in south Kashmir’s Shopian area, Zeenat joined Al-Badr militant outfit in 2015 and has over the last two years become an expert with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
According to an intelligence input shared by official sources on Friday, Zeenat was once arrested in 2008 where he is said to have confessed to being an over ground worker (OGW). He was eventually released four years later following which he joined LeT. He is also considered one of the main accused in the Shopian attack in February that left three soldiers dead.
Intelligence officials on Friday also told HT that Zeenat is among the five most wanted men in Kashmir, the others being Zakir Musa, Riyaz Naikoo, Saddam Padder and another man who goes by the name “Khalid”.
Officials said Khalid is believed to be commander of another Pakistan-based outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad and has infiltrated from Pakistan.
ZEENATULISLAM JOINED MILITANT OUTFIT ALBADR IN 2015 AND HAS BECOME AN IED EXPERT IN TWO YEARS