Tensions started building in May when police busted the hi-tech communication system of suspected militants in Sopore. Police said the militants had secretly planted a highly sophisticated antenna and radio communication devices on the mobile tower of a service provider in Badami Bagh Sopore.
An ultra-radical militant group has allegedly broken ranks with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and turned against the supporters of hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Sopore.
Operating under the guise of Lashkar-e-Islam, according to police, the group has allegedly assassinated four people – two of them supporters of Geelani in Sopore since May 25. Latest in the series is the assassination of local Boapar Mandal president Khurshid Ahmad Bhat in Bomai village in Sopore.
Like Sheikh Altaf-ul-Rehman who was killed four days ago, Bhat too was the supporter of Geelani’s Hurriyat, creating a new wave of terror in the apple rich township.
“As far as Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI)is concerned, by and large it appears to be a fringe group which is trying to create a sense of terror in the areas in which they are operating,’’ said Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of army’s 15 Corps.
Hitherto unknown, LeI hogged the limelight when their posters appeared in Sopore asking the telcos to wind up business and tower landlords to switch off the towers. Two people including a landlord who had given land on rent for mobile tower and an employee of BSNL franchisee were eventually killed allegedly by LeI.
Tensions started building in May when police busted the hi-tech communication system of suspected militants in Sopore. Police said the militants had secretly planted a highly sophisticated antenna and radio communication devices on the mobile tower of a service provider in Badami Bagh Sopore. However, the equipment went missing prompting the militants to blow-off their cover in a bid to recover the devices.
LeI, according to police, constitutes the cadres of Hizbul Mujahideen who have rebelled against the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) based chief and head of United Jihad Council (UJC) Syed Salah-ud-din and are operating independently in Sopore area.
The group, police sources said, has the strengthen anywhere between 20 to 35 and believes in waging a radical form of Jihad which is bereft of any control from any leader particularly the separatist politicians.
Though Geelani Hurriyat is calling LeI a creation of agencies, the outfit has strongly come against them asking the hardliners to probe the role of its men in the killing of some top commanders in the encounters in Kashmir.
Even if it was not enough, the group asked Hurriyat leaders to desist from offering funeral prayers of militants sending a clear signal about their intent.
"We want to tell you (Huriyat leaders) do not participate in the funeral procession of any martyr and never do politics by lecturing on these occasions. Stop playing politics over the blood of martyrs," said Gazi Abu Shariq, the field operation spokesman of LeI, in a statement.
Police sources said the group is highly indoctrinated and maintains tight secrecy and this is the reason that none of their cadres have been arrested of killed so far.
“They do not use mobile phones. They do not move around freely. They maintain a tight secrecy within the group. Therefore it is very hard for us to arrest them. Though the militants in the group stand identified, they have not been arrested,” said a police officer.
What is more worrying for the separatists and the security establishment is whether the group is trying to expand its network to south Kashmir.
“There are more than 50 militants operating in Pulwama district, 85 per cent of them in Tral belt alone. If some of these cadres join them, it is going to be a very dangerous for every one of us”, said an intelligence officer.
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