New Delhi: The most wanted man in Kashmir, Abu Dujana, from Pakistan’s Balochistan area, lived a remarkably long life in Kashmir. He was active in Kashmir since 2010. On an average, after picking up a gun, a militant survives for not more than two years in Kashmir.
The fact that 26-year-old Dujana not just survived for seven years, but created Lashkar’s cadre in Kashmir, orchestrated ambitious offensives like the 2015 Udhampur attacks, and slipped out of cordons and encounters at least a dozen times, makes his death the biggest achievement of security forces in Kashmir in last several years.
“This is the greatest blow to Lashkar-e-Toiba and to terror outfits in Kashmir, there is no doubt about that,” said a police officer who was involved in the operation that led to Dujana’s death.
The officer said Dujana was tracked down through a cellphone call he made at midnight in Hakripora village. Sources say Dujana’s movements were already impaired because of an injury he had suffered from a previous brush off with forces. He had also been spotted at funeral prayers of Sabzar Bhat and Burhan Wani.
Dujana had recently sent alarm bells off in security establishment after reports of his meeting with now Al Qaeda chief of operations in Kashmir Zakir Musa, a little after Sabzar Bhat’s death.
His association with LeT had also come under cloud after the outfit had ‘reprimanded’ him for his ‘indiscipline’ and elevated the chief accused in the recent Amarnath Yatra attack – Abu Ismail – as its chief of operations in the Valley.
The handlers of LeT’s Kashmir division were reportedly not happy with the manner in which Dujana had masterminded several bank robberies, without seeking their consent, and killed a person suspecting him of being a double agent. This person had reportedly helped LeT on several occasions and therefore was a valuable asset to the terror outfit.
In his press conference with the IG, police, J&K, the GOC 15 core, General JS Sandhu, said Dujana was not involved in any recent operation and was more of a nuisance. “Wo yahan aata tha aaiyashi karne ke liye, aur koi kaam nahi tha uska,” he said.
However, the fact is that while Ismail has become active only three months ago in Kashmir, Abu Dujana and Abu Hamas had practically built and created Lashkar’s base in the Valley, and were being supported by Pakistan’s network of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) in Kashmir.
The police file on the dreaded Balochi militant mentions that he was ‘very expert in grenade attacks’.
Dujana had succeeded the position of Lashkar’s Kashmir chief from Abu Qasim, a Bhawalpur resident, who had among other things, killed the most successful counter-insurgency police officer Altaf Dar alias ‘Altaf Laptop’. Qasim himself was shot dead three weeks after Dar’s death.
After killing Dujana, force’s attention will now turn towards Abu Ismail, the prime accused in the recent Amarnath yatra attacks, who is believed to be heading Lashkar’s operations in Kashmir. The Pakistan-based outfit is believed to be commanding over 30 militants in the valley.
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