SRINAGAR/HYDERABAD: One of the three militants killed in an encounter with security forces in J&K’s Anantnag on Monday was identified as
Muhammad Taufeeq of Hyderabad, Telangana, according to the Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, the al-Qaida cell in Kashmir.
On checking, police in Hyderabad found Taufeeq’s family had locked their residence in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, and had gone incommunicado a day after he was killed.
Taufeeq’s father, Mohammed Razaq, works at Department of Atomic Energy’s heavy water plant in Manuguru.
Police said Taufeeq had not been in touch with his family since 2016, when he had gone to Hyderabad to look for a job.His family told police that he had pursued a civil engineering diploma in Wanaparthy town, but Bhadradri Kothagudem district SP Ambar Kishor Jha said they were yet to get confirmation.
Police said Taufeeq had been radicalised by Islamic State terror group ideology through social media and had gone to Kashmir to participate in terror activities. The identity of the third militant was not known until local media quoted on Wednesday an Ansar statement identifying him as Taufeeq of Hyderabad.
A senior police officer involved in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir said, “Though the Ansar remains a small organisation, it appears to have won some cachet among young Kashmiri Islamists disillusioned with the
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar.
If it (Ansar) could attract some radicalised Muslim youth from other parts of the country, it would be a huge challenge for security agencies to stop them.”
