3 Lashkar terrorists held in connection with killing of Kashmiri salesman

The trio gunned down salesman Mohammad Ibrahim Khan on the instructions of their Pakistan-based handlers.

Police in Jammu and Kashmir arrested three people on Tuesday for their involvement in the killing of salesman Mohammad Ibrahim Khan on November 8, news agency ANI reported.

All three nabbed are residents of Pulwama and are allegedly linked to terror outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), the offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The trio killed Khan on the instructions of their Pakistani-based handlers, ANI reported citing police.

The names and other information pertaining to the handlers are yet to be reported.

Khan, who worked as the salesman for Kashmiri Pandit businessman Roshan Lal Mawa, hailed from Bandipore district. He was mistakenly shot dead after a little-known organisation, Muslim Janbaaz Force, claimed that the attack was supposed to be on Sandeep Mawa, the son of Roshan Lal.

Notably, Roshan Lal was also shot dead by terrorists many years before. The Mawas were among several Kashmiri Pandits who left the Valley during the insurgency in 1989. They relocated to Delhi in the 90s, but moved back to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 and resumed their wholesale dry fruits business.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Sandeep escaped bullets as he left his shop early on November 8 after police gave him a prior warning of a possible attack. Khan was shot dead hours later outside the shop, and succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

“Khan was like a brother to me. He always stayed with me... in Delhi, Bengaluru and even Jammu. It is unfortunate that he lost his life. We are trying to get a government job for his daughter or son,” Sandeep told HT.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir deteriorated since the series of civilian killings began in October wherein as many as 11 migrants, mostly from Bihar, were gunned down. The matter intensified after the killing of constable Tawseef Ahmad Wani on November 7 and Khan a day later.

Furthermore, among multiple encounters that police and security forces in the Valley have conducted, the latest one in Hyderpora drew severe attention and criticism due to the death of two civilians — Altaf Ahmad Bhat and Mudasir Gul. While police said they were “overground workers” of the two terrorists, who were killed during the Hyderpora encounter, the civilians’ families stated they were killed in “cold blood” and used as “human shields.”

The situation in Jammu & Kashmir deteriorated since the series of civilian killings began in October wherein as many as 11 migrants, mostly from Bihar, were gunned down. (PTI/Representational image)

Following massive protests, including from People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti and Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) vice president Omar Abdullah, the bodies of Bhat and Gul were exhumed in Handwara and handed over to their families for proper funerals.