Key accused in high court blast reported to a Hindu militant

Key fugitive conspirators — Junaid Akram Malik, Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias Chota Hafiz and Arif Kamal — in the Delhi High Court blast case used to report to a Hindu militant, Subhas Kumar Shan, of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) till July this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigators have learnt.

Key fugitive conspirators — Junaid Akram Malik, Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias Chota Hafiz and Arif Kamal — in the Delhi High Court blast case used to report to a Hindu militant, Subhas Kumar Shan, of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) till July this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigators have learnt.

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Subash Kumar Shan alias Qamran alias Wasif was the first Hindu divisional HM commander for Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was killed in an encounter with security forces in Marwah area in July. He was the son of Jeevan Lal Shan, an
ex-serviceman.

According to sources, besides Subhash, two other HM commanders — Rizwan and Jahangir — were also active in Kishtwar area. Rizwan and Jahangir are yet to be apprehended.

“Subhash was active since 2001. It is suspected that he joined militancy due to his affair with a Muslim girl. Besides Subhash, there have been many other cases in Rajouri, Doda and Udhampur districts of Jammu region where Hindus have joined militancy due to lure of gun and money,” said a source.

In 2004, a militant named Manoj Kumar had surrendered before security forces. In 2005, a Hindu militant Uttam Singh was killed in an encounter.

Kuldeep Kumar fell to bullets of security forces in 2006 and perhaps the longest serving Hindu militant Bipin Kumar was killed in 2008. Bipin had joined militancy in 1997.

“Kashmiri jehad has become more of an industry and it has seen many changes over the years. Key active militants — foreigners and locals — can now be counted on figures. Therefore, they all work together and organisational affiliations have blurred,” said a police official with more than 10 years of experience in anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir.