‘Mastermind’ of Amarnath yatra attack shot dead
Another LeT man is killed too in Srinagar encounter
A top Lashkar-e-Tayyaba commander who was allegedly involved in the July 10 terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims was, along with another militant, shot dead by the security forces at Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar on Thursday evening.
Police officials said slain LeT commander Abu Ismail, a resident of Pakistan, was named in 15 FIRs, including the killing of eight Amarnath pilgrims and injuring 19 others, in Anantnag district two months ago. The LeT had, however, strongly denied attacking the bus carrying the Amarnath pilgrims in Anantnag’s Botengo area and tried to put the blame on Indian intelligence agencies.
The police said the security forces launched an operation in Nowgam’s Aarigam area on Thursday afternoon on learning about the presence of militants. They claimed the militants opened fire at them as they moved into a neighbourhood and in the ensuing “brief gunbattle” Abu Ismail and his accomplice Abu Qasim were killed. The police said the bodies have been recovered along with two AK-47 rifles.
“It was a very brief encounter in which both terrorists were killed,” said IGP (Kashmir Range) Munir Ahmad Khan at a hurriedlycalled Main accused of Amarnath yatra attack Abu Ismail & his associate Abu Kasim eliminated today in Nowgam. Keep it up my @JmuKmrPolice boys. — Shesh Paul
Vaid, J&K DGP press conference. He added, “It hardly took half an hour to complete the operation. He (Abu Ismail) was one of our prime targets.”
Earlier, announcing the killing of Abu Ismail, J&K’s director-general of police Shesh Paul Vaid wrote on Twitter: “Main accused of Amarnath yatra attack Abu Ismail & his associate Abu Kasim eliminated today in Nowgam. Keep it up my
@JmuKmrPolice boys.” Mr Vaid said the J&K police was after Abu Ismail since the Amarnath attack took place.
His CRPF counterpart Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar said: “This is a huge achievement. The terrorist was responsible for the attack on the Amarnath Yatra.”
A police source said one of the slain men, possibly Abu Ismail, had received a bullet below his chin and another in the leg. Local residents said they suddenly heard firing, which lasted for a few minutes. Mr Khan said the militant leadership ought to be eliminated physically “because they also misguide our children and lure them into terrorism”. Endorsing him, the GOC of Victor Force, B.S. Raju, said that the operation was important “because we are expecting a vacuum in the top leadership of LeT”. The Victor Force is the Army’s counterinsurgency force active mainly in the southern parts of the Valley. The IGP congratulated the security forces’ team and said the operation was a result of the “people’s prayers”.
A statement by the police later said Abu Ismail was the “mastermind” of the Amarnath yatra attack, the “worst since 2000”. It said: “The encounter started as a joint team of the police and the Army’s 50 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned the area off following inputs about the presence of terrorists. As the security forces tightened the cordon, the hiding terrorists opened fire on the security forces, triggering the encounter”. It added: “The other terrorist killed in this encounter was Abu Qasim, alias Chota Qasim”
The statement said as many as 15 FIRs were filed against Abu Ismail. “He was involved in a number of terror attacks in south Kashmir, including several on the police and other security forces and their convoys, camps and posts. Three jawans each from the J&K police and Army and one CRPF jawan were killed and another wounded in these attacks,” the statement said.
It added: “He was involved also in a recent grenade attack in Srinagar in which one civilian lost his life and 25 others were injured, in the murder of two sarpanches (village heads) and three bank robberies that took place in Pulwama district.”
Mobile Internet services in Srinagar were blocked after the killing of the LeT commander “as a precautionary measure” to prevent a law and order situation arising. However, later 2G and 3G services were restored, while 4G service remains cut off.
Srinagar’s district magistrate has said the security restrictions under Section 144 CrPC will remain in force under the jurisdiction of Srinagar’s five police stations — Nowhatta, Maharaj Gunj, Rainawari, Khanyar and Safakadal — on Friday “as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident”. The authorities also ordered the closure of all schools and colleges in Srinagar and Anantnag districts for the day.
Earlier, two suspected overground workers of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen were arrested by the police in Kupwara district. The duo was taken into custody from Kupwara’s Handwara area separately and the police claimed recovering a hand grenade from them.
They were identified as Waheed Ahmed Bhat, who was arrested during routine checking at a makeshift checkpoint, and Muhammad Shafi Mir.
Continued from Page 1 bring a high-speed train in India and to create a new India,” he added.
Congratulating the people of India, Mr Modi said this was a “a bold step towards realising an old dream of a bullet train”. Lauding Japan, he said the country was such a friend that it gave a loan of `88,000 crores at 0.1 per cent interest for the project. Taking a dig at the Opposition, Mr Modi said: “When earlier I talked about the bullet train, they (the Opposition) used to say it was big talk, and now when it has come, they are saying what is the need for it.” He added: “Our stress is now on high-speed connectivity, which will improve speed, reduce distance and ensure economic progress,” he added.
“The two Prime Ministers welcomed the commencement of the project on the ground at the Sabarmati Station for the MumbaiAhmedabad High-Speed Rail, which will be an important symbol of a new era marked by the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. Expressing satisfaction at the steady progress, they directed their teams to multiply their efforts for achieving the target schedule. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the exchange of notes for 100 billion yen as the first ODA loan for the MAHSR project,” the joint statement said.
The naming of Pakistan on the issue of terrorism in the joint statement was also another victory for India and a setback for Pakistan. “The two Prime Ministers also condemned in the strongest terms the growing menace of terrorism and violent extremism... They also called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and financing channels and halting cross-border movement of terrorists. They underlined the need for all countries to ensure their territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries... The two Prime Ministers also called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of terrorist attacks, including those of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai and the 2016 terrorist attack in Pathankot. They looked forward to the convening of the fifth India-Japan consultation on terrorism and to strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups including Al Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-eTayyaba and their affiliates,” the joint statement added.
In a veiled reference to Chinese military assertiveness, it said: “The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce in accordance with international laws.” When asked why the South China Sea was not named in the joint statement unlike earlier ones, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters later the South China Sea was part of the Indo-Pacific region which has found mention.
On North Korea, the statement said: “The two Prime Ministers condemned in the strongest terms North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, including the latest nuclear test conducted by North Korea on 3 September as well as its uranium enrichment activities.”
On Indo-Japanese defence ties, the joint statement said: “The two Prime Ministers noted recent progress in bilateral cooperation on defence equipment and technology, including commencement of the technical discussion for the future research collaboration in the area of Unmanned Ground Vehicles and Robotics. Japan’s readiness to provide its stateof-the-art US-2 amphibian aircraft was appreciated as symbolising the high degree of trust between the two countries. Also mentioned was ‘the possibility of joint field exercises between the Indian Army and Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Forces in 2018’, and reciprocal visits by air assets to each other’s country.”
On Japanese funding for economic projects in India, it said: “The two Prime Ministers welcomed the expansion of Japan’s FDI in India under the India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership, committed to by both sides in 2014... The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the memorandum of cooperation on the joint development of the ‘Japan and India Special Program for Make in India’ in Mandal-BecharajKhoraj, Gujarat, as a regional development project driven by manufacturing cluster.”
On civil nuclear energy cooperation, it said “the two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the entry into force of the agreement” between India and Japan “for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy” and also “looked forward to a working group to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this field”.
The 15 agreements signed included one to enhance connectivity and promote development projects in India’s northeastern region and an aviationrelated one on open skies between India and Japan.