One of the most dreaded militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Abu Ukasha Afghani, died in what was officially described as a surgical operation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Army in Kupwara area of northern Kashmir, on Sunday.
Superintendent of Police in Handwara Maqsood-uz-Zamaan told The Hindu that the Special Operations Group of the J&K Police with troops of Rashtriya Rifles 21 Battalion, launched a cordon-and-search operation at Sodal, about 90 Km from Srinagar, on a specific information about Afghani’s presence.
“The Pashto speaking militant from North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan was killed in a surgical operation. He was LeT’s Divisional Commander with his area of operation spread over Kupwara and Handwara Police districts. He also used to travel to Srinagar to plan and execute some of the operations of his outfit”, Mr Zamaan said.
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The SP claimed that the Police or Army did not suffer any damage. There was no civilian casualty either, he said.
Some of the residents who spoke to The Hindu over telephone suggested that the militant “seemed to have been killed in a fake encounter” after his arrest. According to them, there was little evidence of an encounter at the site.
However, the Police and the Army officials insisted that Afghani died “in a brief encounter” after he turned down the offers of surrender with heavy volume of gunfire from a cowshed that was brought down with an improvised explosive device.
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They claimed that Afghani had carried out a number of guerrilla strikes on the Army convoys and was also believed to be one among the six LeT militants who had beheaded a head constable of Srinagar District Police in a forest in Magam area of Handwara in July last year.