Mohammad Abu Ismail, who emerged as the mastermind of the deadly attack on Amarnath pilgrims, is likely to replace Abu Dujana as Lashkar-e-Toiba commander. The successor of Abu Dujana, 26-year-old Pakistani national Abu Ismail, who was killed on Tuesday during a joint counter-terror operation, infiltrated into India about two years ago. For two years, Abu Ismail has been operating in south Kashmir, as per the sources.
After investigations including communication intercepts led to the name of Abu Ismail as the mastermind of Amarnath Yatra terror attack, security agencies launched a manhunt to hunt him down. “We have identified Ismail and two other men who were with him during the attack. We have also identified the people who drove them to their spot and who brought them their weapons. We know the direction in which the terrorists are hidden and we’ll hunt them down soon,” a senior police Jammu and Kashmir police official told News18.
Seven Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were killed and several injured when a group of terrorists attacked a bus carrying the pilgrims near Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir. Of the seven dead, five belonged to Gujarat while two were from Maharashtra.
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Using call intercepting technology, the security agencies had found that Dujana used to visit his wife, Rukiya, in a residential complex of Pulwama. Acting on the information that Dujana w to would visit his wife around July 3 to August 1, the forces intensified their vigil and launched a joint operation. Abu Dujana and Arif Lilhaari were killed following the encounter.
Dujana and his accomplice were told to surrender. However, when they responded with firing, the forces, in a bid to flush out the terrorists with minimum collateral damage, blew up the house. Both Dujana and Lilhaari were killed,” said an intelligence officer.