Abu Dujana: Brain behind deadly highway attacks

Majid Jahangir

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Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 1

On Tuesday morning when one of longest surviving foreign militants, Abu Dujana, 26, was killed in a gunfight, it brought to an end to the six-year game of cat and mouse in south Kashmir.

He was a “master of disguise” and this year he had escaped at least half a dozen times from the security dragnet.

For his activities, Dujana was categorised as A-plus-plus militant in the police records, carrying a reward of Rs 12.5 lakh. Dujana, whose real name is not known, was a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan and is believed to have infiltrated into Kashmir in 2011.

Dujana’s killing, whose death today was described by Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid as a “huge success”, is said to be a major blow to the overall militancy in J&K as he was considered the brain behind the major deadly attacks along the Srinagar-Jammu highway and attracting youth towards militancy.

“Dujana was the mastermind behind many attacks, including ambushing a CRPF convoy on the outskirts of Srinagar that left eight personnel dead last year. He also masterminded the attacks in the multi-storey building housing the Entrepreneurship Development Institute,” a top police officer said. “Besides, he used to provide logistic support for the fidayeen attacks,”

The Army, however, said Dujana was largely a “nuisance” and was not involved in too many operations. “He was more involved in coercion activities and not in many terror acts. Voh yahan ayyashi kar raha tha bas (he was only having fun here). He was enjoying himself here, but was largely a nuisance,” General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, Lt Gen JS Sandhu told reporters at the headquarters of the Army’s counter-insurgency division at Awantipore in south Kashmir. “But, the Lashkar leadership has been affected with his killing,” the GOC admitted.

Initially, Dujana remained active in north Kashmir for at least two years before shifting his base to south Kashmir. Dujana came on the security radar during the investigation of the 2015 Udhampur attack when militants ambushed a BSF convoy. The same year, after the killing of Abu Qasim (mastermind of Udhampur attack), Dujana took over the command of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. He used to mostly operate in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Source, however, said he had developed differences with the Lashkar earlier this year after a series of bank robberies. He was reportedly disarmed by the group. The sources said Dujana had joined Zakir Musa-led new affiliate of the Al-Qaida. However, the J&K police said Dujana was the Lashkar chief.

The police said Dujana had married a girl seven months back and was killed on Tuesday in the house of his in-laws where he had reportedly arrived yesterday.