Police reveal slained Ayodhya mastermind's terror cells in J&K

Jammu, Aug 20 (UNI) The mastermind behind the terrorist attack on the Ayodhya temple Saifullah Qari, who was killed in a joint encounter by the Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi police last week, operated a network of terror cells in the state, police said.

Qari, top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), had established sleeper cells in Poonch, Mendhar and Jammu and terror cells from Poonch to Srinagar, meant to kill innocents, police said in a release issued here.

'' The slained militant and his associates used the houses of Mohammad Javid and Beghum Maqsood Khan as their hideouts.

They were brought to Jammu by Javid on July 2, 2007,'' police said quoting statements of those arrested during an interrogation.

Injured terrorist Zaffar Iqbal had come to Jammu alongwith Javid's real brother Asif Khan two days later. Javid's elder brother Mohammad Saleem Khan, an over ground worker (OGW), was arrested by the Mendhar police for acting as a carrier of hawala money and remained under detention for 19 months.

To conceal their identity and nefarious game plans, Javid got Qari admitted in a driving institute while Zaffar Iqbal was enrolled in a computer institute in Janipur, police said adding that both possessed identity cards under false names.

Investigations revealed that Qari had purchased a piece of land measuring three kanals and 10 marlas in ward No 2, Kamsar mohalla in the heart of Poonch in 2003 and built a house worth Rs seven lakh last year which also contained a secret hideout. The Poonch police recovered a number of identity cards and incriminating documents from the house.

One of the identity cards of Qari bore the name of Mohammad Yaseen son of Mohammad Ayub, resident of Chunga Charoon, a Rehbre-e-Taleem teacher in Chunga issued by ZEO Mendhar.

Police also seized photographs of Rtd army personnel Mohammad Razak Khan who was arrested by the Poonch police last year for allegedly harbouring terrorists. Khan is in jail and his wife Zubeda Begum and daughter Rubeena Kousar have been detained by the police for questioning.

Police had recovered one pistol, 4 satellite phones, 4 mobile cells and cash amounting to Rs 30,000 from the slain JEM commander while Rs 3.88 lakh was seized from the house of Maqsood where terrorists had taken shelter for more than 40 days.

UNI