The Central Government has banned two organisations of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad and declared four individuals terrorists in last four days.
On January 4, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification stating that Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, a Kashmir-born terrorist who has contacts with al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State (IS) in India, was declared an individual terrorist.
Aijaz Ahmad, presently based in Afghanistan, is one of the chief recruiters of Islamic State Jammu Kashmir (ISJK).
Aijaz Ahmad, who was born in Srinagar in 1974, is a wanted terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir for more than two decades and has started planning terror-related strategies in the Union Territory by building coordination channels between various militant groups.
According to the MHA, Aijaz Ahmad is working towards providing traction to militancy in Kashmir and has started the process of identifying people for inclusion in his Kashmir-based network.
He was appointed the head of Islamic State (IS) recruitment cell for India and had been instrumental in initiating an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine.
A day later, on Jan 5, the MHA declared The Resistance Front (TRF) , a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned organisation.
The MHA said the TRF is recruiting youth through online medium for furtherance of militancy activities, recruitment of militants, their infiltration and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu Kashmir.
The group came into existence in 2019 as a proxy of the banned LeT, which was involved in numerous acts, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The TRF is involved in psychological operations on social media platforms for inciting people of Jammu and Kashmir to join terrorist outfits against the Indian government.
The MHA said Sheikh Sajjad Gul is a Commander of the TRF and has already been designated as a “terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967.
A large number of cases have also been registered against the members and associates of the TRF.
On the same night, the MHA designated Mohammed Amin Khubaiab alias Abu Khubaiab, who belongs to Jammu Kashmir but currently lives in Pakistan, an individual terrorist.
He is acting as launching commander of the LeT and has developed a deep association with the cross-border agencies and is playing a vital role to revive and accelerate terrorist activities of LeT in Jammu.
Mohammed Amin has been involved in coordinating terrorist attacks, supply of arms or weapons and explosives, terror financing in Jammu and Kashmir from across the border.
On January 6, the MHA banned People’s Anti-Fascist-Front (PAFF), a proxy outfit of another Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, for its involvement in terror acts in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.
The MHA said the PAFF has been regularly issuing threats to security forces, political leaders and civilians working in Jammu-and Kashmir from other states.
The PAFF, alongwith other organisations, is involved in conspiring pro-actively physically and in social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and other major cities in India.
The PAFF alongwith other organisations is indulging in radicalisation of impressionable youth for the purpose of recruitment and training in handling guns, ammunitions and explosives.
Through a separate notification on the same night, the MHA designated Arbaz Ahmad Mir, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir but is presently based in Pakistan and is working for banned terror group LeT, an individual terrorist.
Arbaz Ahmad has been involved in target killings and has emerged as main conspirator in murder of a female teacher, Rajni Bala, in Kulgam in Jammu and Kashmir a few months ago.
He has been involved in coordinating terrorism in Kashmir valley and supporting terrorists by transporting illegal arms or ammunition or explosives from across the border, it said.
On Jan 7, the MHA declared Asif Maqbool Dar, a doctor who lives in Saudi Arabia as an individual terrorist.
The MHA announced he is involved in instigating or provoking the youth of Kashmir Valley for terrorist activities by using social media platforms.
“He is associated with banned outfit Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen and is one of the leading radical voices on social media and involved in nefariously influencing Kashmiri youth to take up arms against security forces,” as per the MHA.
He is an accused in a case investigated by the National Investigation Agency relating to conspiracy hatched by the cadres of outfit to undertake violent militancy act in Jammu Kashmir and major cities in India including New Delhi on the direction of handlers based across the border. (Agencies)