Killed Kashmir terrorist used pre-paid phone for contact in Pak

The Pakistani terrorist killed during the Lal Chowk encounter had a pre-paid mobile connection, given without proper verification, raising fresh security concerns, after it was used for communicating with his handlers in Pakistan.

The terrorist, identified as Saifullah Qari, believed to be in his mid-twenties, had kept the mobile connection with him for a long period, and had meant to use it only during "operations", official sources said today. He was one of the two 'fidayeen' militants gunned down by security forces, to bring to end a 22-hour siege in the heart of Srinagar yesterday.

Though the government has imposed a ban on issuing fresh pre-paid mobiles from November 1 last year, the existing subscribers have been asked to convert it to post-paid by January 29 this year, failing which, the services will be discontinued.

The police personnel were told about the mobile phone number by central security agencies, and during a quick check, it was found that the person in whose name the connection had been taken, did not exist, official sources said.

The police was trying to locate the vendor from whom the pre-paid connection had been obtained, they said.

About Qari, highly-placed sources said he was a resident of Baluchistan in Pakistan, and had six brothers.

Qari, who had minimum balance left in his mobile phone, was more dependent on his handlers in Pakistan for telephonic instructions, sources said.

Once he became aware that he was cornered, and that he could be eliminated by security forces, Qari reportedly had a long chat with his handlers in Pakistan,  and asked them to take care of his family back home.