Abu Qasim, the most wanted non-local militant commander and chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in Kashmir, was today killed in a brief gunfight with police and army in southern district of Kulgam. With the killing of Qasim, whom police blame for dozens of attacks on forces including at Hyderpora and Udhampur during last three years, the LeT has suffered a major blow in the region.Officials of police and army told Srinagar-based news agency that Abu Qasim, who was carrying a bounty of 1 million on his head, was killed at Khandaypora village of the district. Police said after receiving specific input, a cordon and search operation was launched at Khandaypora yesterday at 4:00 PM.The police said that that the search operation continued and at 2:00 AM, the contact between militants and forces was established after firing from the former side. “Abu Qasim and his accomplice fired upon forces and tried to escape but he was killed instantly. His accomplices however managed to escape,” a top officer of police told GNS.
The locals of the village told GNS that at around 2 AM, they heard gunshots in the village. “Shortly after that in the dawn, the police and army started searches and told residents to come out of their houses. But after locals came to know about the death of Abu Qasim, they started to raise pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Within no time, massive protests started in the village,” said a local, Inam.Here in Srinagar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Range, SJM Gillani addressed a hurriedly called press conference at 9 AM in Police Control Room and announced that the militant killed at Kulgam is Abu Qasim.The IGP, who was flanked by DIG Central Kashmir, said the Qasim was involved and masterminded number of attacks including the one on army at Hyderpora here in 2013 that left 8 troopers dead and another one on BSF at Samroli in Udhampur along Srinagar-Jammu highway that saw death of two BSF men.Qasim, a resident of Bahawalpur in Multan city of Pakistan, was active in Kashmir from past 5 years, the police said. He took over the reins of LeT after the death of Abdullah Uni, who was killed in Sopore Town of Baramulla district. Police sources said Qasim was operating around Srinagar upto 2012 and after the death of another LeT commander, Rehman Bhai, he moved to south Kashmir and revived militancy in the region.
Police said Qasim was also involved in the killing of top counterinsurgency officer and Sub-Inspector, Altaf Ahmad alias Altaf Laptop when the latter was chasing him at Bandipora early this month. The killing of the top cop was described as a major setback to the counter-insurgency grid of the Jammu and Kashmir police.A police spokesman said that Qasim directed the killing of SHO Chadoora in 2013, was involved in the killing of several BSF, CRPF and policemen and also former SKIMS Soura director, Dr Jalal.“On the directions of the said militant commander, cadres of LeT outfit were involved in killing of Ex-Director of SKIMS Soura Srinagar, Dr. Jalal U Din along with his PSO in year 2013. The said militant commander was involved in an attack on BSF Bus which took place near Kadlabal, Pampore, injuring 06 personnel including Deputy Commandant. On the directions of the said militant commander, cadres of LeT carried attack on Police Party at Galander Pampore in which 2 constables of JKAP 11th Battalion got killed and they snatched 01 AK-47 Rifle,” the spokesman said.
He continued: “On the directions of the said commander, the cadres of LeT are involved in killing of SHO police station Chadoora in year 2013. On the directions of the said commander, cadres of LeT outfit killed 2 CRPF personnel in year 2013. The said militant commander was involved in firing at Batapora Tokuna on 04/11/2014 ,” adding: “On the directions of the said commander, cadres of LeT killed two SPOs at Court Complex Pulwama in year 2014.“The spokesman further said that Abu Qasim was involved in killing of one policeman and one army man at Qaisar Mullah in Chadoora area of Budgam district.Abu Qasim had so far escaped nearly a dozen cordons of army and police, a security official said. After the attack at Udhampur and capture of militant Naved, the police, army and NIA had started massive operations to nab the Abu Qasim. It was learnt that Qasim, after multiple raids, encounters and arrests in south Kashmir, had moved to Bandipora in north Kashmir.“He had now managed to engage forces at Bandipora this month and cleverly shifted back to his old base. But, this time he was caught,” the security official said.This week alone, forces managed to kill 5 militants in south Kashmir including Qasim. A defence spokesman meanwhile said: “Relentless information based operations by the security forces which have resulted in elimination of 18 militants including three top commanders over the last two months alone, have struck a significant blow to the militants.”Confirming the death of Qasim, LeT “paid tributes” to their slain Kashmir chief and vowed to carry on the “struggle” for the “freedom”. (GNS)