The Resistance Front, a Lashkar proxy which is targeting BJP leaders in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, Oct 31: The Jammu and Kashmir police have identified the terrorists behind the killing of a local BJP leader and two of his associates.

The police say that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Resistance Front were behind the killings. The police said that the killers came in an Alto car and opened fire. The terrorists then fled in the same vehicle. The vehicle has been seized near the Achabal area of Anantnag, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range), Vijay Kumar said.

Fida Hussain, Umer Hajam and Umer Rashid Beigh were shot by militants in Y K Pora area of Kulgam district late on Thursday evening. The trio was rushed to a local hospital at Qazigund where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

In July The Resistance Front, a little known proxy of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has claimed responsibility for the killing of BJP leader Sheikh Waseem Bari, his father and brother at Bandipore, Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, the TRF said that political stooges who ever sabotage Kashmir's cause with their filthy designs to make and help occupational regime in brutalising Kashmir will be dealt with dire consequences.

The first time that the agencies got to know about this group was in March 2020, when the police busted a module of The Resistance Front." The module was busted on April 23, 2020 at Sopore and it was found back then, it was linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

While the module was busted, its activities on the social media and Telegram channel continues unabated. A senior security official tells OneIndia that this group is the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which is operating under a new name. It is an age-old trick of these groups to change names so that there is an element of surprise for the security agencies.

The group also known as the JK Fighters is very active on the social media. During the raid in Sopore, the police arrested Ahtisham Farooq Malik, Shafqat Ali Tagoo, Musaib Hassan Bhat and Nisar Ahmad Ganai. A police official who questioned the four said that they were reporting to their handler in Pakistan. He goes by the name Andrew Jones and on the group, he operates under the ID of Khan Bilal. The group is called as TRF/JK Fighters-The Resistance Front.

Officials say that the group is used to recruit local youth for terror-related activities, especially in North Kashmir. There are messages on the group, which clearly instigate the locals into taking up arms and fighting the Indian forces.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that this group has cropped up for a variety of reasons. The Hizbul Mujahideen, the local outfit in J&K is on the verge of a shut down. With most of its top leaders killed by the security forces, the group has not been able to draw inspiration among the youth.

Further, the infiltrations have been successfully stopped to a large extent by the Indian Army, despite Pakistan violating the ceasefire several times in a bid to provide cover fire to these terrorists. There are nearly 300 terrorists of both the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad along the border waiting to infiltrate. The launch pads were activated by Pakistan in the last week of March, but these terrorists have not found much success.