Terror Module In Hyderpora 

Mudasir Gul was a militant associate

Amir Magray had helped Bilal to escape after killing Babar Qadri

There are strong human, digital and physical evidences establishing the involvement of Dr. Mudasir Gul and Amir Latief Magray in militancy-related activities. Dr. Mudasir, a dentist by profession and Magray were killed presumably in cross firing in the Hyderpora encounter on November 15. The encounter was widely decried. Initially the bodies of three locals including Dr Mudasir and Amir were not handed over to their families. Later, facing pressure from the families, the bodies of Dr Mudasir and Altaf Bhat, a businessman, were exhumed and handed over to their families for last rites. The police had clearly hinted regarding the involvement of Mudasir and Amir in militant activities. Their families strongly denied these statements and refused the charges. There was a stalemate for few days after the encounter. Thereafter, the bodies were exhumed and handed over to the families.

All along, the police have remained confident about the direct involvement of Amir in militancy-related activities. Police investigation has revealed that Amir was functioning as a mole for Pakistani terrorist Saqlain, also known as Chhotu or Bilal. Police did not hand over his body to his family.

There are conflicting statements and counter statements about Altaf’s killing. Police sources say that Altaf was killed by Bilal. Altaf opened the door to the room where Bilal was holding up. But immediately as the door opened, Bilal pumped bullets into Altaf’s body, killing him on the spot. A magisterial enquiry was ordered into the incident by Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha. Police is confident that the cause of Altaf’s death shall be ascertained. A senior police officer who did not want to be identified told KASHMIR CENTRAL, “It is not difficult to ascertain the truth. If Altaf was hit by a pistol bullet, then he was killed by the terrorist. If it was an AK 47 bullet, then it would be from the security forces”.

The families of Mudasir, Altaf and Amir have the moral, ethical and legal rights to demand the return of their bodies for performing the last rites. Unfortunately, the political class has tried to exploit the situation to further their political agenda. They have seemed as irresponsible and desperate in creating some kind of law and order situation.

National Conference Patron Dr Farooq Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti cast aspersions as to whether the fourth person killed in the encounter was a terrorist. Soon after the bodies were exhumed and handed over to families, Mehbooba hurriedly called a press conference. She stated that the body of the fourth person killed in the encounter has not been claimed by anyone. It needs to be investigated whether the encounter took place at all or it was stage managed. Security forces, meanwhile, assert that there is no doubt regarding the fact that notorious foreign terrorist Bilal was killed in the Hyderpora encounter on November 19.

Saqlain alias Chhotu alias Maaz alias Bilal infiltrated into Kashmir in September- October 2019 along with three associates. Two of his associates were locals, and one was a foreigner. This group of terrorists was affiliated to Lashkar e Taiba (LET), internationally designated as a terrorist organization. The group infiltrated through the Gurez sector. Bilal’s local associates include Abid Haqani and Qaiser Manzoor, both from Bandipora. An interesting fact came to light during investigation into the case. Abid and Qaiser had gone to Pakistan in 2018 via Wagah. They had travelled on legal travel documents. Qaiser was killed in an encounter at Lawdara, Bandipora in October 2019.

Abid Haqani and Saqlain alias Bilal remained active in Bandipora for quite some time. One Owais Ahmed of Bandipora, a top LET over-ground worker, provided logistics support to Abid and Bilal. Owais was later arrested by the police and is currently in jail under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). Owais had built a network of OGWs in Bandipora, mostly operating for the internationally proscribed LeT.

On November 9, Bilal was spotted in Jawaharnagar area in a black Alto car which did not have a number plate. Police sources say that he was likely doing a reconnaissance of the area where a senior journalist is residing. The information gathered by the security agencies reveals that Bilal was putting up in a room at Raj Bagh in the winter of 2020. The house is located on the Raj Bagh-Jawahar Nagar Road. Investigation reveals that Bilal was planning to shift back to the same area. The location had been tagged by the police and movement around it was being watched.

Amir Latief Magray was a resident of Sangaldhan, a remote village in Gool tehsil, Ramban district. He was studying at Babul Uloom madrasa at Natipora in Srinagar. In September 2018, Amir completed his course at the madrasa. The same day, Amir was referred to Dar-ul-Uloom Raheemiyyah in Bandipora for another course. The house of Owais Ahmed, the top LET over-ground worker who provided logistics support to Abid and Bilal, is at a distance of about 50 meters from Dar-ul-uloom Raheemiyyah. Natipora is in uptown Srinagar. For decades now, the locality has been known for producing the highest number of OGWs for diverse militant groups. As per police records, almost every militant organization operating in Kashmir has OGW assets in Natipora area. Amir got in touch with some OGWs of LeT in the area. With the help of some teachers of Babul Uloom, Amir was deputed to Bandipora as part of a plan. On reaching Bandipora, Amir was contacted by Owais.

In January 2019, Qaisar Manzoor, the accomplice of Bilal was killed in Bandipora in an encounter. Bilal moved from Bandipora to Srinagar. According to police sources, Amir travelled with Bilal from Bandipora to Srinagar. According to police, Abid Haqani of Bandipora also travelled with Bilal and Amir the same day. They stayed in Srinagar through 2019 and conducted recces of many soft targets. Finally, Bilal and Haqani killed Advocate Babar Qadri on September 24, 2020 inside his house.

According to police, when Bilal and Haqani shot Babar Qadri, they were accompanied by two OGWs. These OGWs were identified as Sam Manzoor Bhat of Rajbagh and Amir Magray. Police investigation revealed that Amir and Sam did not enter Babar’s house. After Babar was shot, Amir and Sam hurriedly boarded Bilal and Haqani in a car and escaped from the spot to some unknown destination. Sam and his associate Muiz Ahmad Khan, also from Rajbagh, are currently in police custody. Digital evidence suggests that Amir was using two SIM cards. The SIM card that had been procured in the name of his father Abdul Latief Magray was used for communication with the militant commanders. Since Abdul Latief was a protected person, a SIM card procured in his name was not immediately within the ambit of suspicion. Hence it was chosen by the militant associates for use in communication. According to sources, the SIM card was used twice for communicating with the LeT handlers in Pakistan.

Amir’s father Abdul Latief Magray had been provided protection by the police after he had killed a militant in his village.

Why Did Dr Mudasir Leave dentistry and Become A Real Estate Broker? It was not his domain.

Dr. Mudasir arranged for Bilal’s logistics in the commercial complex owned by businessman Altaf Bhat. After the local terror network of the blog ‘kashmirfight.wordpress.com‘ was busted, the militants and their handlers in Pakistan were looking for a control room in Srinagar for information warfare purposes. Mudasir established a high-tech lab in Altaf Bhat’s property for this purpose. Bilal was shifted here for providing information to the handlers in Pakistan. Sources reveal that Mudasir’s associate, who is in police custody now, has confessed that Bilal had been staying in Altaf Bhat’s premises for about two months.

Police seized the dongle and other hardware and software being used in the high-tech lab in Altaf’s property. When the data from the software being used by Bilal was unencrypted, the location where Mudasir’s associate was residing got pinned. Police finally zeroed in on Mudasir’s associate. He was taken into custody. He confessed that Bilal had stayed at his residence at least for two nights.

The man also revealed that he had spotted Bilal at Mudasir’s so-called call centre on many occasions.

Four of Mudasir’s associates were OGWs and were frequent visitors to the call centre. Two were from Raj Bagh. One was from Nawa Kadal and the fourth from Rawalpora. They would stay there for long durations and would plan the execution of the soft targets identified by the handlers in Pakistan. They would also accompany Bilal to the places where these soft targets resided, to conduct the recce of the areas and plan the modus of the attack.

There are two aspects of the controversial Hyderpora encounter. One is that according to the police and security agencies, the involvement of Mudasir and Amir in the terror networks has been established. There are concrete digital and physical evidences of their involvement.

The other aspect is that both Mudasir and Amir were unarmed. Killing non-combatants cannot be justified even if they were providing logistics to active militants. They may be tried in a court of law for engaging in these unlawful activities. Senior police authorities categorically deny that Amir, Mudasir or Altaf were targeted. Police officers are emphatic that it can be easily ascertained whether it was Bilal who shot Mudasir and Amir by studying the bullets that were used in the attack.

The magisterial inquiry into the incident is underway. The report is expected soon. The family members of those killed in the Hyderpora incident are waiting anxiously for the report. That said, there were some loopholes in the entire operation due to which fingers are being pointed towards the security forces.

LG Shri Manoj Sinha has committed of stern action on errors that may be found in the operation.