Terrorist wanted for Pulwama attack among 2 JeM operatives killed in Anantnag encounter

Two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, including one wanted in connection with the Pulwama attack, were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday, police said. An Army soldier was also martyred in the gunfight. 

The security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district in the morning following inputs about the presence of militants. The operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire on the forces, an officer said.

An Army jawan was injured in the gun battle and he succumbed to injuries at a hospital, the official said.

However, the major success for the security forces was the death of Sajad Bhat, a key operative of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Sajad Bhat was wanted in connection with the suicide car blast in Lethpora area of Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead.

It was Bhat whose car was used to carry out the suicide attack.  

As per sources, Sajad was also involved in the attack on the security personnel's car at Arihal yesterday night.

Bhat was killed along with his associate Tauseef Bhat.

Army spokesman Rajesh Kalia confirmed the identities of the two terrorists. 

A resident of Marhama Sangam, Sajad joined active militancy a few days after the Lethpora attack. As he joined JeM’s fidayeen squad, his photo holding a gun went viral.

The 22-year-old was a student of Shopian district's Siraj-Ul-Uloom school and came in connection with terrorists for nearly 2 years ago.

"Two terrorists were killed in the operation in Bijbehara. They have been identified as Sajad Bhat and Tauseef Bhat, and were affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group," a police official said.

How agencies uncovered identified Sajad - owner of Maruti Eco car used in Pulwama attack

Sajad was a key suspect in the February 14 attack and had arranged his own car which was used to carry the explosives. He helped the terrorists with logistics but was not an active militant. Tauseef was said to be his handler.  

As per the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which was heading the probe, the vehicle  - chassis no MA3ERLF1SOO183735 and engine no MA3ERLF1SOO183735 - was sold to Mohammad Jalil Hakkani of Anantnag’s Heaven Colony in 2011. Before reaching Sajad, the  Maruti Eeco car was sold and bought seven times. NIA only had the chassis number of the car after the blast and investigated about the year and place of manufacturing of the car with the help of VIN number. 

Vehicle identification number (VIN) has 19 letters and this number is unique for each car. In this case, the alphanumeric code helped the NIA find the owner of the car. Every car manufacturer puts the date and month of manufacturing in the middle of this number which helped the agencies find the original owner of the car. 

Not only this, but the NIA also uncovered the source of the funds which were used to buy the car. At that time NIA had said that the car was bought on February 4, 2019 to carry out the attack and then from there it was taken to Anantnag and then to Pulwama where it was packed with explosives. 

The agency was also able to find a connection between Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar and Sajad Bhat. Both were in contact with JeM leadership.

The NIA had raided Sajad’s house, school, and relatives' places after the Pulwama attack but failed to catch hold of him. 

The security forces consider Sajad’s death along with Tausif as a big success.

As per the police sources, forces have killed 110 terrorists since January this year. This number also includes some top commanders which has substantially damaged terrorists and has forced them to come out in open and attack security forces.  

There is also an intelligence report that around 8 to 10 Pakistani terrorists have reached the Valley through Jammu’s Punch and Rajouri road.

Here, they are handling the commands of the terrorists and are now under the radar of the forces.