In June last year, five CRPF were killed and as many injured in a terrorist attack on a busy road in Anantnag district of South Kashmir whose responsibility was claimed by the Al Umar militant group which was dormant for many years.
The attack brought in focus the leader of Al Umar Mujahideen, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, one of the three terrorists, who, along with JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and Omar Sheikh of Harkat-ul-Ansar, was released in Kandhar of Afghanistan, in exchange for over 150 hostages of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 on December 24, 1999. Zargar was lodged in Kote Balwal jail in Jammu at that time.
The Indian Airlines IC-814 Kathmandu-Delhi flight, carrying 178 passengers and 11 crew members, was hijacked by Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with the active support and assistance of the Pakistan army. The flight, which made stops at Amritsar and Lahore, ultimately stationed itself in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Nobody knows the whereabouts of Zargar since he was released in 1999. Police officials, however, said that he was in Pakistan at a “safe house” and could revive the group which is otherwise inactive for the last two decades. Police had started pursuing leads on Zargar-led Al Umar after it gave a strike call in Kashmir.
“Zargar is currently in Pakistan. In old city, there is no presence of Al Umar. We have seen no activity of theirs. I don’t know about their claims in other districts,” said SP North Srinagar Sandeep Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}“Zargar is currently in Pakistan. In old city, there is no presence of Al Umar. We have seen no activity of theirs. I don’t know about their claims in other districts,” said SP North Srinagar Sandeep Gupta.
{{/usCountry}}“He hasn’t come out openly after his release but he is on the police radar, especially after his group claimed responsibility for the attack on CRPF personnel in Srinagar. Like other militant groups, Zargar’s group is also under constant watch, though it has no presence in the Valley, not even in Srinagar,” said a senior police official on condition of anonymity.
Another officer, who didn’t want to be identified, said the attack in Anantnag, though the responsibility was taken by Al Umar, was actually carried out by Jaish. “We reported that Al Umar only claimed the responsibility for the attack, but it was carried out by Jaish,” he said.
No contact with him: Family
Mushtaq’s elder brother Fayaz Ahmad Zargar, 48, said he was not in contact with Mushtaq and have no information about him since he left home 30 years ago.
“He was 16 when he left home amid a wave of militancy and since then we have not been in touch,” he said, adding that the family came to know about his release in 1999. He said the family, including Mushtaq’s three brothers and three sisters, suffered immensely since he left home.
“We have witnessed a life of torment all these years. Each day we have seen tribulations. Our two children are in jail for the past four years. I was jailed for 10 months for no reason for the second time in August 2019 when the Article 370 was revoked,” he said.
Mushtaq’s two nephews Adil Siraz Nazir (sister’s son) and Dawood Fayaz Zargar (Fayaz’s son) were arrested in 2017 in connection with the killing of DSP Muhammad Ayub Pandith, who was lynched on June 22, 2017, at Nawhatta.
“These kids are innocent and they were arrested because of their lineage. Now, their careers are finished,” he said.
Zargar’s father Ghulam Rasool Zargar was a photographer who died in 1983 and Fayaz is also into photography, while his two brothers own garment and cosmetics shop in the old city.