In a massive victory for security forces, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind chief Zakir Musa was gunned down on May 22 in an encounter in Kashmir’s Tral region. At 6 am on May 24, Musa’s body was retrieved.
The Gunfight
On May 23, a gunfight broke out between government forces and terrorists at Dadsara village in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Late evening, a joint team of army’s 42 RR, SOG and CRPF cordoned off Dadsara village.
“Zakir Musa was an Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind chief and a A++ terrorist. He was also an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” a senior police officer was quoted telling the media (NDTV.)
A chemist’s house, where Musa was hiding, had to be blasted. Although the owner was sent inside for negotiation to surrender, Musa reportedly refused. Instead, fired some UBGL grenades, leading to the encounter in which he was killed.
“The (slain) terrorist was identified as Zakir Musa after the body was recovered Friday morning. Weapons and war-like stores were recovered from the encounter site,” defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said.
Mobile internet across the valley was snapped by authorities and schools have been directed to shut down today, May 24.
A day after he was killed, a curfew was imposed in various parts of Kashmir as a precautionary measure. Restrictions were announced in some areas of Pulwama, Awantipora, Srinagar, Anantnag and Budgam by Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Who Was Zakir Musa?
Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Zakir Musa, was a resident of the Noorpora area of Awantipora. He was a student in Chandigarh’s Ram Dev Jindal College.
He was charged him with stone-pelting while in Kashmir during his vacation in….In July 2013, while appearing in the court Musa disappeared, leaving a note asking his parents not to look for him.
He soon became Kashmir’s most wanted and most dreaded terrorist.
Musa was the successor of slain terrorist Burhan Wani and founder and chief of the Al-Qaeda cell Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. He was also a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander.
Musa was known for using propaganda to call for an Islamic caliphate in Kashmir and across India. He quit Hizbul Mujahideen after his disagreement that the struggle was for Islam and political autonomy.
Al-Qaeda affiliated Global Islamic Media Front declared Musa as the head of the newly created organization and Al-Qaeda cell in Jammu and Kashmir, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, on July 27, 2017.
After parting with the Hizbul Mujahideen, he threatened to behead the Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar, Lal Chowk, who said that the crisis that was ongoing in Kashmir was a political struggle.
In a video message, Musa claimed that most people in Kashmir were involved in and were a part of a fight for a secular state, which was ‘haram’ in Islam, and threatened the Hurriyat leaders with dire consequences.
Musa represented the new age Islamist terrorists operating in Kashmir. Those who were far more radical and violent, and extensively used social media.
He was revered in his Islamist terror circuit because of his association with the al-Qaeda.
In a video released in 2018, Musa urged and encouraged Indian Muslims to attack Indian Army personnel, as well as employees of companies looking to invest in India.
Further, material published by them exhorted Muslim youth to carry out lone wolf attacks throughout the country.
Also Read: Know Who Is Burhan Wani & About The Tense Situation In Kashmir
