Four terrorists are on the prowl to target political leaders and disrupt Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, central intelligence agencies told security forces this week and directed them to make efforts to trace and arrest them.
The terrorists have been identified as Zahid Hussain, Haroon Abbas Wani, Osama Bin Javed, and Naveed Shah — members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Shah is a former constable of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Intelligence agencies have also shared locations of these terrorists' hideouts. "They were last seen at Banjwar and Paribagh areas of Kishtwar district," intel agencies said in a communication to local police, Indian Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). All four terrorists have logistic support from locals and they are armed.
The agencies also stated that they were behind the killing of 50-year-old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Chandrakant Sharma and his Personal Security Officer Rajinder Kumar. These terrorists had shot Sharma and his PSO inside the district hospital in Kishtwar on April 9.
They had fired indiscriminately at Sharma, a pharmacist at the hospital and had also decamped with Kumar's weapon. Sharma was a top RSS leader who had worked for the security of minorities at the height of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir in the early nineties.
The agencies stated that the terrorists have been assigned to target political leaders in the valley and "create unrest". It has also been stated that another group of JeM terrorists have been given targets to carry out attacks on security forces.
The agencies came to know about it following inputs extracted from a tanzeem -- a small terrorist group.
The valley witnessed its worst attack on February 14, in Pulwama where 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a fidayeen attack. The attack was planned for the first week of February in a run up to the week-long anniversary ceremony of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.
LEADERS TARGETED
Intel agencies stated that the terrorists have been assigned to target political leaders in the valley and “create unrest”. It has also been stated that another group of JeM terrorists have been given targets to carry out attacks on security forces
