Astute LeT man giving forces sleepless nights

Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT’s) wily Kashmir chief Abdullah Uni, who has mastered the art of breaking security cordons, is proving to be a big headache for security forces deployed in north Kashmir’s Sopore.

In an embarrassment to the forces, Uni has fled the security cordon at least five times in the past few months. Uni has been able to bring several outfits together in a bid to mount more lethal attacks. Various militant attacks have claimed the lives of over 20 security men and 15 ultras during the past the six months here. The latest being the encounter at Chinkkipora, where four troopers of special forces including captain Devinder Singh Jass were killed.

This year alone, Sopore has seen more than eight militant attacks in which they lobbed grenades, shot cops and damaged security installations. And most of the attacks have been carried out by the module comprising LeT, Harkat-ul-Mujhadeen and Hizb-ul-Mujhadeen headed by Uni.

A Pakistani national, Uni had replaced Furqan, LeT’s Kashmir chief, who returned to Pakistan a few years ago. CRPF spokesman Prabhakar Tripathi said Uni changed the base to coordinate and regroup militants in Sopore. “Uni puts some people on observation post (OP) duty to track the security forces’ movement. He also uses GPS to keep track of the forces. With this, the ultras blunt the surprise element in the security forces’ attack, and this is why he manages to break the cordon,” a police officer said.

Sopore has become a new corridor of terror since it is centrally located, connecting Handwara and Lolaab on one side and Bandipora on the other. The government has made Sopore a separate police district to track the ultras.