Hamad Azhar’s name new to intel agencies
The
Hindu
March
10, 2019
Hamad
Azhar, who Pakistani authorities claimed to have taken into preventive
detention, finds no mention in records of intelligence agencies in India. His
name has not featured so far in any of the dossiers on the terror outfit
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), officials told The Hindu.
Pakistan
took 44 members of banned organisations, including Hamad and JeM chief Masood
Azhar’s brother Abdul Raoof, into preventive detention, its Ministry of
Interior said on March 5.
A top
official from Indian intelligence said the “senior leadership of JeM had always
been close family members,” and the “44 detentions made by Pakistan had nothing
to do with Indian dossiers, though some of the names do figure in these
dossiers.”
A senior
government official said the JeM was run like a “family enterprise” by Masood
Azhar and though others in the family had figured in investigations, there was
no mention or reference to Hamad yet.
“Maybe
Hamad was still being groomed for bigger roles. There is no mention of his name
in any of the interrogation reports of suspects related to JeM here,” said the
official.
Abdul
Raoof was most recently named by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for
“conspiring and executing” the terrorist attack at Pathankot airbase in Punjab
on January 2, 2016 when seven security personnel were killed. He had also
planned and executed the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 in 1999. In
exchange for the hijacked passengers, Masood Azhar was released from a Delhi
prison where he was lodged since his arrest in 1994. After his release, he went
on to form the JeM.
“44
persons taken under ‘preventive detention’ by Pak agencies are reportedly from
many proscribed outfits, including JeM. Pakistan claims that it was their own
action aimed at curbing terrorism,” the top official said.
Prominent
office-bearers of the JeM include Qari Mansoor Ahmed; Nazim (head of the
propaganda wing), Abdul Jabbar-Nazim, military affairs; Sajjad Usman, in charge
of finance, Shah Nawaz Khan alias Sajjid Jehadi and Gazi Baba, chief commander
J&K and Raoof Asghar, launching commander.
A senior
official said that Masood Azhar’s nephew Waqas, JeM’s commander in South
Kashmir was killed in an encounter near Pulwama in March 2018.
In
November 2017, another of his nephews, Talha Rashid, was also killed in an
encounter with security forces in Pulwama.
His
brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar is said to have overseen the operations of the the
Balakot terror camp that was hit in a precision strike by the Indian Air Force
on February 26. It is not clear if Yusuf was killed in the attack. As reported
earlier, Yusuf Azhar alias Mohammad Salim alias Ustad Ghouri is a Hindu who
converted to Islam and married the JeM chief’s sister. He is wanted by the
Central Bureau of Investigation in the 1999 hijacking case and a red corner
notice was issued against him.
Comments
Post a Comment