Srinagar: Longest surviving Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) commander Ashraf Molvi was killed, along with two other terrorists, at Sirchan Top (forest area) in Pahalgam of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, said police on Friday. "Ashraf Molvi (one of oldest surviving terrorists of HM terror outfit), along with two other terrorists, were killed. Successful operation on the yatra route is a major success for us," Kashmir Zone Police said in a tweet while quoting IGP Kashmir. Ashraf Molvi hailing from Tengpawa Kokernag had joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in 2013 and soon became one of the most wanted terrorists in the Valley. Earlier on Thursday, an active terrorist of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen was arrested, along with arms and ammunition in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district.
The joint cordon and search operation launched by the Police and Army (3rd RR) in the forest area of Sirchan Top (East of Batkot Pahalgam) area of Anantnag turned into an encounter. During the operation, as the joint party proceeded towards the suspected spot the hiding terrorists fired on the joint party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists of proscribed terror outfit HM were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter. They have been identified as Mohd Ashraf Khan aka Ashraf Molvi/Mansoor-ul-Haq, Mohd Rafiq Drangay and Roshan Zameer Tantray alias Aqib.
According to police records, all the three categorised killed terrorists were part of groups involved in several terror cases, including attacks on police and civilians. The killed terrorist Mohd Ashraf Khan was the oldest surviving terrorist of Hizb and figured among the list of most-wanted terrorists since 2013. He had a long history of terror cases, which include attacks on police and civilians. He was involved in the killings of Ct Imtiyaz Ahmad at a bus stand in Anantnag on September 9, 2017, Mohd Saleem Dar, a resident of Larkipora, Fatehpora Anantnag, on April 2, 2020, and ASI Mohammad Ashraf near Police Station Bijbehara on December 22, 2021, HC Ali Mohd Ganie at Hasanpora Tabeela on January 29, 2022.
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Besides, he was also well trained in fabricating and planting IEDs as he had crossed over to PoK in the year 1999 to get illegal arms training and join terror folds. He was also instrumental in reviving the terror folds of Hizb in Anantnag by recruiting the gullible youth into terror folds. Moreover, in his direction, terrorists killed sarpanch Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawahara Begum at Lal Chowk Anantnag on August 9, 2021.
Similarly, they killed terrorist Roshan Zameer Tantray, who was active since 2018 and was involved in several terror cases, including the killings of Mohd Saleem Dar, a resident of Larkipora, Fatehpora in Anantnag on April 2, 2020, ASI Mohammad Ashraf near Police Station Bijbehara on December 22, 2021, HC Ali Mohd Ganie at Hasanpora Tabeela on January 29, 2022. He was also involved in the killing of a truck driver Narayan Dutt, a resident of Sara Kotla Katra Reasi, who was loading apples in his truck bearing registration No. JK02AQ-6571 at Fruit Mandi in Kanalwan.
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Moreover, the killed terrorist Mohd Rafiq Drangay was active since the year 2019 and involved in several terror crime cases, including the killings of ASI Mohammad Ashraf near Police Station Bijbehara on December 22, 2021, and HC Ali Mohd Ganie at Hasanpora Tabeela on January 29, 2022. Incriminating materials and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were also recovered from the site of the encounter. In this connection, the police registered a case under relevant Sections of law and an investigation has been initiated.
IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar congratulated the joint team for killing the most wanted terrorists and conducting operations without any collateral damage. He also termed this operation as a major success as the site of operation is close to the Yatra route which indicates that the killed terrorists were eyeing to target Amarnath Yatra-2022.
Moreover, Budgam police, along with 62RR and 43Bn CRPF, arrested two terrorist associates of the proscribed terror outfit Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) in the Huron area of Budgam. They have been identified as Amir Manzoor Budoo, son of Manzoor Ahmad Budoo, a resident of Dangerpora Razwan, and Shahid Rasool Ganai, son of Gh Rasool Ganai, a resident of Puttermulla Safapora Ganderbal. Incriminating materials, including ammunition 01 hand grenade and 25 AK-47 rounds, have been recovered from their possession. Accordingly, a case vide FIR No. 134/2022 under relevant Sections of law has been registered at Police Station Budgam and further investigation has been taken up.
