January 12
Zeenat ul Islam 29 years old was recruited in Hizb ul Mujahideen in November 2015, and was considered an expert with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Sources informed The Kashmiriyat that Zeenat ul Islam was first arrested in 2008, and was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for being an Over ground Worker of Al-Badr. He was also in touch with different outfits and was working as an over ground worker for their members, arranging them food and supplies.
After his release in 2011, he initially worked with his father and got married before joining LeT. His father is an Imam in the local mosque. He completed his Bachelor of Arts from a local college, they said.
In may last year, post an IED Blast in Chillipora area of Shopian, the Government forces vandalized more than hundred households in Sugan area, which included the house of Zeenat ul Islam, on another occasion in May, the house of in-laws of Zeenat ul Islam was burnt down by Government Forces in Tukrwangam locality of Shopian. Zeenat also escaped another encounter in Shopian in November.
He was one of the main accused in the Shopian attack which took place on February 23, 2017 when Militants ambushed army patrol in Mulu Chitragam area of the district which left three soldiers dead, the Police says.
Zeenat-ul-Islam was among the three surviving Militants out of list of 12 most wanted Militants prepared by the Government forces in the year 2017. The other two are Zakir Rashid Bhatt alias Musa and Reyaz AH Naikoo alias Zubair.
Locals from his native Ustadpora in Sugan area of Shopian said that he was a humble soul when he came out of the jail, “but he often summoned to the Police station, so he finally decided to join Militancy,” a Local from Sugan told The Kashmiriyat.
He said that the area has often witnessed Cordon and Search operations as the forces contantly came in to look for Zeenat. “At tmes, they used to shot his name and then abuse him outside his home,” the local said.
Indian Government forces have been on a hunt to eliminate Zeenat ul Islam since a few years, however Sources informed The Kashmiriyat that Zeenat ul Islam had escaped from several encounter sites including Turkwangam, Dragad in Shopian.
The last year, when Al Badr started gaining ground in Kashmir, Zeenat ul Islam quit Hizb ul Mujahideen after he had differences with Hizb commander, Riyaz Naikoo and joined Al Badr as the chief commander of the outfit which is mainly operational in Shopian district of South Kashmir.