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Security forces gunned down the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF men in the wee hours of Monday. Ghazi Abdul Rasheed was among the two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists killed in the encounter, which claimed the lives of four army personnel, including a major.
Kamran alias Ghazi Rasheed was captured by the Indian Army along with two other terrorists. A joint team of 55 Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF, and Special Operation Group launched a cordon and search operation early on Monday, after receiving inputs on terrorists taking refuge in the area.
India intensified its operations to hunt down terrorists after the Pulwama IED attack on February 14; JeM had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The 32-year-old, a Pakistani national, was a close and trusted aide of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar. He was an Afghan war veteran and an IED specialist and joined the terror group in 2008. Reportedly, Ghazi had trained Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Dar and was commanding all Jaish operations in India. Ghazi was trained by the Taliban in Afghanistan and would train Jaish recruits in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Intelligence agencies said Ghazi infiltrated into India through Kashmir along with two of his associates towards the end of last year. It is believed Masood Azhar sent him to Kashmir to avenge the death of his nephews — Talah Rasheed and Usman — killed in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Usman, a Jaish sniper, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Tral last year.
Intelligence sources added that Ghazi had a narrow escape in an encounter in Pulwama's Ratnipora village, days before the February 14 attack.
(An earlier version of this article carried an incorrect image. It has been replaced. The error is regretted)
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