A Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, said to be behind a spate of killing of migrant labourers in the Kashmir Valley, only recently crossed the border to India, Director-General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir, Dilbag Singh said.
Mr. Singh said the LeT operative, identified as Salman Bhai (28), alias Salman Afghani, was getting help from the local Hizbul Mujahideen militants Naveed Mushtaq (31) and Rahil Magray (26).
Mushtaq, a former policeman, had fled with four service rifles on May 20, 2017, and joined the Hizbul. He has been on the most-wanted list of the J&K police for three years. Mushtaq and Magray are from Shopian, one of the worst militancy-affected areas in south Kashmir.
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Shopian attacks
This week, three migrant labourers were killed by terrorists in Shopian and Pulwama. Sethi Kumar Sagar, a brick-kiln labourer from Chhattisgarh, Charanjeet Popli, a fruit loader from Punjab, and Shareif Khan, a truck driver from Rajasthan, were shot dead.
Mr. Singh said the terrorist attacks were another way of harming the community economically as those killed were engaged in apple transportation. The two districts account for the largest production of apple in the Valley with a total output of around 5 lakh tonnes. It is bumper harvest and the trade season is from September to December.
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“Salman Afghani, a new commander of the LeT, recently infiltrated from Pakistan. He is targeting non-locals just to harm the trust the locals had with them…. truckers and transporters come from outside the State,” Mr. Singh said. There has been a sharp rise in infiltration since August 5 and some 60 foreign militants are said to have crossed over.