LeT man who plotted attacks on CRPF, BSF convoys killed in Pakistan
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Unidentified men gunned down Adnan Ahmed aka Abu Hanzala, a top-ranking LeT commander and plotter of a series of attacks on security convoys in the Valley over the years, in Karachi three days ago. Hanzala was shot multiple times in the head, chest and stomach at point-blank range by assailants who audaciously managed to break his two-tier security ring provided by the ISI.
CCTV footage and pictures were released by a pro-LeT Telegram account showing Hanzala’s bullet-riddled body in a van. He was targeted by gunmen outside his home at night. He was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. Law enforcement agencies termed it a terror attack.
Hanzala shifted base from Rawalpindi to Karachi in ’20
Hanzala – who appears to be the most significant of a number of figures to die in mysterious killings in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir this year – had coordinated the terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy in Pampore (J&K) on June 25, 2016, resulting in eight casualties and injuries to 22.
The killing of yet another terrorist on India’s ‘wanted list’ stood out for two reasons. Unlike others wanted by India for involvement in terrorism and who were killed in Pakistan and the territory under its control, Hanzala was guarded by 24×7 multiple-layer security. Second, in his instance, the determination that he was eliminated in a “terrorist attack” came fast.
Hanzala’s killing comes a month after two other prominent faces of Lashkar were eliminated in mysterious manner. Unidentified men had gunned down LeT commander Akram Ghazi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan which was followed by the killing of Khwaja Shahid, one of the masterminds of the 2018 Sunjwan terror attack in J&K, who was abducted and later found beheaded near the Line of Control in PoK.
Hanzala had also masterminded the attack on the BSF convoy in Udhampur in 2015 in which two BSF personnel were killed and 13 sustained injuries. “Investigation in the Pampore terror attack was carried out by the NIA and a chargesheet was filed on August 6, 2015, against Adnan and others,” a senior intelligence officer told TOI.
Importantly, the Pampore attack was planned by Khalid Waleed, the son-in-law of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, with two of his deputies – Hanzala and Sajid Jat – handling the terrorists.
A communications expert, Hanzala used to oversee the logistics requirements of LeT cadres operating in the Valley. “He also supervised training of LeT cadres and used to conduct specific operational briefing on use of customised communication applications. Hanzala used to regularly visit LeT training camps operating from PoJK to motivate cadres before their infiltration into India,” a senior policeman said. Hanzala, sources said, provided financial support to active terrorists and over-ground workers operating in the Valley through cross-LoC trade by utilising the routes from Uri and Poonch sectors.
“In 2020, Hanzala shifted his operational base from Rawalpindi to Karachi and started organising campaign programmes of Milli Muslim League, a political front floated by LeT and JuD. He was in regular touch with the LeT brass and was actively involved in recruitment of local terrorists,” an official said. He had also contested local elections in the past and was elected as a councillor.
Hanzala was known for inducting youths only after they had been put through the paces by participating in minor terror attacks designed to test their readiness for bigger jihadi outrages aimed against India.
In September, top LeT commander Riyaz Ahmed was killed outside Al Quddus Masjid in Rawalakot, PoK. He was also handling Lashkar’s operations and recruitment.
