Centre rules out IS presence in Kashmir

New Delhi, February 27

The Centre today sought to downplay the issue of presence of dreaded terror group Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir saying it had no existence in the Valley.

“There is no physical infrastructure or manpower of the IS in the Valley. It does not exist in the Valley,” a Home Ministry spokesperson said here.

The Central government’s assertion came after the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman, Farooq Ahmad Yatoo, in J&K on Sunday.

Another official said Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba could be behind the attack on the policeman, and Eisa Fazili, a local militant, had emerged as the prime suspect.

In November 2017, there were reports that the global terror organisation was involved in an encounter with the security forces in Srinagar where a terrorist, identified as Mugees, was killed and a sub-inspector, Imran Tak, lost his life.

Amaq, which is the official news agency of ISIS, had claimed responsibility for that attack. Pictures of Mugees with the ISIS flag in the background surfaced on social media. Even his body was wrapped in the flag of the banned terror group during funeral.

However, security officials had then claimed that Mugees belonged to an extremist group called Tehreekul Mujahideen and was its Pulwama district commander.

The Tehreekul Mujahideen was among the first few militant groups that emerged at the onset of terrorism in J&K in the early 1990s.

However, police have found no logistical connection between the two, another official said. The cadre strength of the group is very small and it has been facing an extreme shortage of weapons, officials said.

The Tehreekul Mujahideen was founded much before the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen came into existence, they said.

After the killing of Mugees, Adil Ahmed has been appointed the group’s commander in Pulwama district. — PTI

Speculation over group’s involvement earlier too

• The Central government’s assertion came after the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman, Farooq Ahmad Yatoo, in J&K on Sunday. 
• In November 2017, there were reports that the global terror organisation was involved in an encounter with the security forces in Srinagar where a terrorist, identified as Mugees, was killed and a sub-inspector, Imran Tak, lost his life.
• Pictures of Mugees with the ISIS flag in the background surfaced on social media. Even his body was wrapped in the flag of the banned terror group during funeral.

Local ultra likely behind cop’s  death

Srinagar, February 27 

A day after the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman in Srinagar, the J&K Police said it had begun investigations to verify the claims. The police, however, suspect a local militant is the prime accused in the case. “Since the IS has claimed the attack, we have started investigations,” Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said. “So far, however, we have not found any traces of IS on ground.” “Our investigations have so far found that local militant Eisa Fazili, who took up arms last year, was the prime suspect behind the killing. In our records, he is associated with Tehreekul Mujahideen,” a police officer said. — TNS