Ministry of Home Affairs designates 1 Lashkar-e-Toiba, 3 Hizb-ul-Mujahideen men as terrorists

New Delhi, October 4

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today designated four operatives of two terror outfits active in Kashmir as terrorists under the UAPA. The terrorists have been identified as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen operatives Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, Basit Ahmed Reshi and Imtiyaz Ahmed Kandoo, and Habibullah Malik of the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

The MHA’s notification stated that at least one of them was a Pakistani while others were of Kashmiri descent, and all operated from Pakistan.

According to the notification, Sheikh, alias Showkat Mochi, a native of Baramulla, is operating as the “chief launching commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen”.

“Sheikh is involved in coordinating infiltration and recruitment of terrorists and execution of terror attacks,” the MHA said in the notification.

Hailing from Kraltang in Sopore, Kandoo has been involved in managing finances and supplying arms, ammunition to terrorists, besides narcotics smuggling.

Reshi of Baramulla has been involved in subversive activities and coordinating target killings in Jammu and Kashmir…. “He planned and executed a terror attack on police guard post in Sopore on August 18, 2015, in which a police personnel and a civilian were killed,” the notification stated.

Lashkar operative Malik, alias Sajid Jutt, is a Pakistani national based in Kasur. “He has been involved in radicalising Kashmiri youths and recruiting them.”