Amarnath yatra attack avenged: How the terrorists were taken down one by one

On Tuesday, a cycle was complete and three terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba who were part of the Amarnath yatra attack were killed. It all began with the killing of the master plotter of the attack Abu Ismail who broke an unwritten code not to attack the Valley.

It was a blind case to start with. There was not much information that was forthcoming when the probe into the Amarnath yatra attack began. The best minds were put to work and none of the security forces and officials in the Intelligence Bureau were prepared to wait too long to crack this case.

We were not going to let them go easy, an official from the IB informed OneIndia.

The first step was to identify the mastermind and the organisation. The hand of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba was found during the early days of the probe. Based on the investigations it was found that Abu Ismail was the one who led and masterminded the attack. Ismail was leading the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Kashmir and it was very concrete evidence that led up the forces up to him. Ismail was killed in an encounter on September 14, two months after the yatra was attacked.

A top official said that following the death of Ismail, the group comprising Abu Mavia, Fukran, and the Yawar Basir went underground. There was no movement from their side and they were ordered to remain underground. It had become a blind case said an official.

However, the first signs of their whereabouts were picked up when Fukran received a call from Pakistan directing him to take over the outfit. The Lashkar-e-Tayiba had become headless following the death of Ismail and their operations had started to slow down. The entire group led by Fukran had moved between North and South Kashmir several times.

It was however last week that the Intelligence picked up a very crucial intercept which pinpointed their location. Further, another intercept was also picked up about this group planning an attack. An encounter broke out on Monday when this group opened fire on an Army convoy at Qazigund on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

OneIndia News