NIA, UP ATS raid Jehangir Saroori’s houses in Kishtwar

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Kishtwar: Narrowing down on longest surviving Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Mohammad Amin Bhat alias Jehangir Saroori, National Investigation Agency and Anti-Terrorist Squad of Uttar Pradesh jointly raided his houses in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

They first conducted searches at Saroori’s residence at Saroor mohalla and later Tang Gwari area in the town. The raiding parties reportedly took some documents pertaining to Saroori from his family members.

Both had brought with them a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Qamar-Uj-Zama alias Dr Huraira alias Commander of Assam who was arrested in Kanpur by UP’s Lucknow ATS in September 2018. Zama had reportedly come in contact Hizbul Mujahideen when he used to run a rehari in Kishtwar.

Saroori is active in the militancy for past more than two and half decades and is presently supreme commander of the outfit for Kishtwar district. Aged 57, he is the longest surviving militant in the UT who is wanted by security forces in connection with various militancy related incidents in Kishtwar district and other parts of the Union Territory.

He keeps shuttling between mountainous areas of Kishtwar and South Kashmir to avoid contact with security forces. However, his movement hasn’t been observed by security forces for the past couple of years now.

Qamar-Uj-Zama alias Dr Huraira alias Commander, 39, had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in 2017 and he was apprehended by the ATS at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on September 13, 2018. 

Sources said Zama was brought to Kishtwar for investigations as he used to run a ‘Rehri’ in Kishtwar town before joining the militancy and becoming an active member of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. He was given arms training by the Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir, most likely in the hilly areas of Kishtwar where Jehangir Saroori was hiding.

“A possibility that Zama was lured into militancy by Jehangir Saroori is also not ruled out,” sources said. Zama, according to sources, had also remained in contact with top militant Osama.