Amarnath yatra attack: How security forces tracked and killed Ismail
While Ismail had associates in the attack, the security forces wanted to gun down the top boss first.
Following the horrific Amarnath yatra attack, security forces have been on the trail of Abu Ismail, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist. Ismail the mastermind of the attack was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
Intelligence
Bureau
officials
say
that
since
the
attack,
there
had
been
a
manhunt
for
Ismail.
At
times
we
came
close
to
trapping
him
and
there
were
a
couple
of
misses
as
well.
By
Wednesday
evening,
we
had
zeroed
down
on
his
location
and
after
making
sure
that
the
terrorist
was
really
him,
operations
were
launched
on
Wednesday.
In
fact
the
intelligence
that
was
picked
up
on
him
suggested
that
he
was
planning
a
major
strike
on
the
outskirts
of
Srinagar.
He
was
killed
in
the
nick
of
time,
the
officer
also
said.
While Ismail had associates in the attack, the security forces wanted to gun down the top boss first. Officials say that this year the focus has been on the commanders or the leaders of the outfit. When the top boss is shot dead, the cronies below him shake and hence this strategy was adopted, the officer also noted.
In
July
terrorists
of
the
Lashkar-e-Tayiba
opened
fired
on
a
bus
from
Gujarat
carrying
pilgrims.
8
yatris
were
killed
in
the
attack.
Detailed
investigations
showed
that
Ismail
was
involved
in
the
attack.
The
police
said
that
he
had
masterminded
the
attack
and
was
also
present
at
the
crime
scene.
He
was
the
first
to
open
fire
on
the
bus,
the
police
also
said.
The
killing
of
Ismail
is
a
major
success.
He
is
the
fourth
A++
terrorist
to
be
killed
in
Kashmir
in
recent
months
after
Abu
Dujana,
Sabzar
Bhat
and
Burhan
Wani.
Ismail in his mid 30s had been part of the Lashkar for the past seven years. He was part of a camp comprising 200 terrorists who had been training to launch attacks in India. He recently took over as the Lashkar chief in Kashmir from Abu Dujana who was killed in an encounter.
OneIndia News