26/11 mastermind Lakhvi’s nephew killed in Bandipora

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 19

A top militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and nephew of Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was killed in a gunfight today in north Kashmir.

The militant, identified as Abu Musaib in his mid-twenties, was killed in an encounter in the wee hours at Khosa Mohalla in Hajin, Bandipora, 30 km from Srinagar, after inputs were received about his presence in the area.

Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said the killing of the militant commander was a huge success for the security forces. “As per our information, he is the nephew of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi,” Vaid told The Tribune. A police officer in north Kashmir said Musaib was the son of Lakhvi’s brother, and was active in the area since 2015. “Musaib was heading the Lashkar operations in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts and was involved in many violent incidents,” the officer said. Lakhvi is the operations commander of the Lashkar and is blamed by New Delhi for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Security agencies in the region say that Lakhvi is actively involved in planning the Lashkar’s operations in J&K.

Musaib is the second close relative of Lakhvi to have been neutralised in Kashmir. In 2007, Lakhvi’s son Mohammad Qasim was killed in the same district in a fierce gunbattle at Gamroo village. In the intervening night of January 18 and 19, the J&K Police received a tip-off that Musaib was hiding at a village in Hajin.

“A joint operation was immediately launched by the Army and the CRPF around 4.30 am. As the area was being cordoned off, the militant opened fire, critically wounding a policeman. In the gunfight that followed, the militant was killed,” a police officer in north Kashmir said. “Musaib had escaped cordon several times in the recent past, but this time we managed to neutralise him.” An AK-47 rifle, three Chinese grenades, ammunition and matrix sheets were recovered from the gunfight site.

The police officer said Musaib had infiltrated in 2015 and was the divisional commander of the outfit. “He was instrumental in establishing the militant outfit’s network in two districts. Musaib’s death will affect Lashkar’s operations in north Kashmir,” he said.

There have been frequent gunfights in and around the Hajin area of Bandipora in the last two months. Meanwhile, clashes erupted in Hajin over the killing of the militant. The slain militant played an active role in organising a fidayeen attack in Nowhatta in Srinagar on August 15, 2016.