Key conspirator in 2019 Pulwama attack killed in encounter

A top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander, who was one among the key conspirators behind the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF men, was among the two militants killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday.

Pulwama:A top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander, who was one of the key conspirators behind the 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF men, was among the two militants killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday. Mohammed Ismal Alvi alias Lamboo alias Adnan, the JeM commander, was a relative of the terror outfit's founder Masood Azhar.

Police said Adnan stayed with Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber responsible for the deadly Pulwama attack, till the day the fedayeen attack was carried out. They said a viral voice clip that Dar had recorded, also carried Adnan's voice. He was also named in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigating Agency in connection with the 2019 Pulwama case, police added.

Adil Ahmad Dar, the suicide bomber, had driven a vehicle packed with explosives into a convoy of 78 buses carrying Indian paramilitary police in Pulwama, on the heavily guarded Srinagar-Jammu highway, days before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The attack had resulted in the death of 40 CRPF jawans.

Kashmir Zone Police's tweet

"Mohd Ismal Alvi @ Lamboo @ Adnan was from family of Masood Azhar. He was involved in conspiracy and planning of Lethpora Pulwama attack and figured in chargesheet produced by NIA: IGP Kashmir @JmuKmrPolice (sic)," Kashmir Zone Police tweeted quoting Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar.

"Adnan alias Lamboo hailed from Pakistan and was known for making improvised explosive devices (IED). He was active from the last few years in Kashmir," Vijay Kumar told ETV Bharat on phone. "This is a big achievement for security forces. Identification of another militant is being ascertained," Kumar said.

A joint team of Police, Army and the CRPF had launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in the Nagberan-Tarsar forest area in south Kashmir this morning following inputs about the presence of militants there, a police official said. The militants opened fire following which the forces retaliated, leading to the encounter. "The search operation turned into a gunfight after militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated befittingly," the official said.

Police said the identity of the other militant, who was killed in the encounter today, is being ascertained.