Officials: Pulwama terror attack mastermind killed in encounter

Srinagar, Mar 11 The mastermind of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 CRPF staff had died, has been killed in an encounter in south Kashmir's Tral area, authorities said Monday.

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Mudasir Ahmed Khan assumed name 'Mohd Bhai' was among two militants killed in the encounter in Tral's Pinglish region in Pulwama district, they said.

The experience kept going past midnight.

Khan and a JeM usable, who authorities accept is Sajjad Bhat, whose vehicle was used in the Pulwama attack, were murdered in the gunfight with security forces.

The family members of Khan have taken his body, the authorities stated, including that members of Bhat wouldn't take the body, saying it was charred beyond recognition.

Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Pinglish after receiving specific intelligence about the presence of militants in the area.

The operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire at the search party who retaliated, the officials said.

Lesser-known JeM terrorist Khan has been identified as the brain behind the bold dread strike in Pulwama that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force staff dead on February 14, authorities said on Sunday.

The CRPF personnel were killed when a JeM terrorist rammed an explosives-loaded vehicle - a Maruti Eeco minivan - into their bus.The minivan was purchased by Bhat only 10 days before the suicide attack.

Suicide attacker Adil Ahmed Dar, who blew the dangerous loaded vehicle by the transport, had been in consistent contact with Khan, authorities said.

Sorting out proof accumulated up until this point, security authorities said 23-year-old Khan, a circuit tester with an advanced education and an inhabitant of Pulwama, organized the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike.

A resident of Mir Mohalla of Tral, Khan joined the JeM at some point in 2017 as an overground worker and was later drawn into the fear outfit by Noor Mohammed Tantrey, nom de plume 'Noor Trali', who is accepted to have helped the terror group's recovery in the Kashmir Valley.

After Tantray was killed in December 2017, Khan vanished from his home on January 14, 2018, and was dynamic from that point forward.

After completing his graduation, Khan did a one-year diploma course as electrician from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI).

The eldest son of a labourer, Khan is also believed to be involved with the terror strike at the military camp in Sunjawan in February 2018, in which six staff and a regular citizen were executed.

His job has also come under lens in the Lethpora attack on a CRPF camp in January 2018 that left five CRPF staff dead.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is examining the February 14 terror attack, had carried out searches at the residence of Khan on February 27.