J&K Authorities Probing If Zakir Musa Met Jaish Militants A Day Before His Encounter

Srinagar: Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir are looking into the possibility of a collaboration between Pakistan-based banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Zakir Musa’s Jammu and Kashmir-based Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH). Musa, whose real name was Zakir Rashid Bhat, was killed in a gun battle with security forces on 23 May.

It has recently come to light that Musa had met foreign militants belonging to the JeM a day before he was killed in Dadsara village in Tral, Pulwama district. Sources in the paramilitary forces said the Jaish militants who met Musa were originally from Pakistan, but their identities and the purpose of the meeting are yet to be ascertained.

Officials said the meeting indicates that the AGH and the JeM were collaborating, even though some senior police officials ThePrint spoke to doubted the possibility of such an “alliance”. Officials said the meeting might have taken place, but it would take time to ascertain if two outfits had reached an arrangement.

Questions raised

The speculated collaboration not only raises questions over the JeM’s plans, but also on the trajectory of Musa’s organisation, since he had on multiple occasions criticised Pakistan-backed militancy in Kashmir, and advocated a jihadi movement independent of the Pakistan Army and the ISI. The JeM has been long believed to be an outfit backed by the Pakistani security apparatus.

The authorities are now looking into veracity of the intelligence input as well as the possibility of an AGH-JeM tie-up. Sources said it was likely that the two groups were in either “in talks” or were planning attacks together.

“Musa was threatened by pro-Pakistan outfits, so it is very surprising that he would have met Jaish militants, but if that is the case, it is probably because of the threats from rival militant groups,” said a senior police officer requesting anonymity.

A senior paramilitary officer added: “The names of the FT (foreign terrorists) are not known but they were from Jaish.”

Musa, the Al-Qaeda inspired founder of the AGH, was a former militant commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen and a close aide of Burhan Wani. Musa was with the Hizbul Mujahideen between 2013 and 2017, after which he developed differences with the Pakistan-based leadership of the outfit. He defected along with his close aides and floated the AGH, a group that would not subscribe to the Hizb’s aim of merging Kashmir with Pakistan.

Details of Musa’s encounter

According to details of the 23 May gun battle accessed by ThePrint, security forces had received intelligence inputs about the presence of three or four militants in Tral’s Dadsara village. The input, according to officials, said Musa was present in Dadsara along with two or three Pakistani militants.

A cordon was laid in Dadsara and adjoining areas between 5 and 5.30 pm. The house in which Musa was believed to be staying was surrounded and at around 7.30 pm, the encounter began.

Officials said in the first few minutes, it was clear to them that Musa was alone.

“Preliminary findings suggest that the FTs (foreign terrorists) had left after meeting him on 22 May. We finally asked him to surrender but he fired back. The firing continued for around two-and-a-half to three hours,” said a senior security official privy to the encounter.

At around 11 pm, firing stopped from both sides but to ensure that Musa had been killed, security forces launched mortar shells into the house, causing it to catch fire. At around 3 am, a search of the house was launched, but forces were not able to find Musa’s body in the rubble till the break of dawn. They finally discovered a burnt pheran (traditional Kashmiri attire) a few feet away from the encounter site. This led the forces to believe he might have escaped the burning home and moved to a nearby field.

“Taking the cover of night, he had managed to hide himself in a nearby field. His pheran must have caught fire and while trying to escape the encounter site he must have thrown it before he entered the field,” said a paramilitary official, requesting anonymity.

“Just as the forces were searching the field, he rose up and yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ before firing at us. This encounter lasted for 2-3 minutes. He was spotted and shot by forces who were positioned on the first floor of the burnt building.”

Courtesy: The Print