Tag: Pulwama attack

  • Who is Rauf Azhar? All you need to know about Jaish terrorist whose footprints present in Kandahar hijacking to Pulwama attack

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Abdul Rauf Azhar, in the news after China blocked a proposal at the UN to blacklist him, is believed to be one of the main conspirators of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking of 1999 and also the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in 2019.

    Since 1999, Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, has emerged as the master of optics in terms of orchestrating most audacious attacks on Indian establishments that grabbed eyeballs across the globe including the 2001 attack on Parliament when a session was on, the 2005 attack on makeshift Ayodhya Ram temple, and the 2016 attack on forward base of IAF in Pathankot among others.

    Designated as a ‘global terrorist’ by the US in 2010, Rauf Azhar sprung on the terror map in 1999 when the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked and taken to Taliban-controlled Kandhar on December 24.

    As the hijacking saga came to an end on December 31, 1999, security agencies identified Rauf Azhar as one of the main conspirators who had hatched the plot to secure the release of his brother Masood Azhar from Kot Balwal jail of Jammu, causing embarrassment to Indian government.

    The attacks planned by Rauf Azhar almost brought India and Pakistan on the brink of a war on at least on two occasions — the Parliament attack and suicide attack on the CRPF convoy.

    ALSO READ | Row over UN proposal to blacklist Masood Azhar’s brother: War of words breaks out between US, China

    India had responded with biggest military mobilisation after 1971 called Operation Parakram after the Parliament misadventure while after the CRPF convoy attack, Induia carried out a target air strike on terrorist camps in Pakistan’s Balakot crippling the spine of JeM.

    Number of Red Corner Notices from Interpol in connection with these attacks are pending against 48-year-old Rauf Azhar who is ensconced in the safety of Pakistan establishment.

    According to an Interpol notice, Rauf Azhar is wanted for waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against government of India, assaulting the president, governor, etc, with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power besides being member of terrorist gang or organisation among other offences.

    A video of Rauf Azhar which was uploaded on a website in Pakistan, where he could be seen claiming responsibility for the Pathankot attack and complimenting his boys for it, was sent to Interpol.

    The video was later removed and the website also vanished.

    Rauf Azhar, who was tagged by the US as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ in 2010, was the chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2007 when his elder brother Masood Azhar was kept at an undisclosed destination by the ISI in the wake of international pressure.

    China has blocked a proposal by the US and India at the UN to blacklist Rauf Azhar, the second such move by Beijing in less than two months.

    NEW DELHI: Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Abdul Rauf Azhar, in the news after China blocked a proposal at the UN to blacklist him, is believed to be one of the main conspirators of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking of 1999 and also the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in 2019.

    Since 1999, Rauf Azhar, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar, has emerged as the master of optics in terms of orchestrating most audacious attacks on Indian establishments that grabbed eyeballs across the globe including the 2001 attack on Parliament when a session was on, the 2005 attack on makeshift Ayodhya Ram temple, and the 2016 attack on forward base of IAF in Pathankot among others.

    Designated as a ‘global terrorist’ by the US in 2010, Rauf Azhar sprung on the terror map in 1999 when the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked and taken to Taliban-controlled Kandhar on December 24.

    As the hijacking saga came to an end on December 31, 1999, security agencies identified Rauf Azhar as one of the main conspirators who had hatched the plot to secure the release of his brother Masood Azhar from Kot Balwal jail of Jammu, causing embarrassment to Indian government.

    The attacks planned by Rauf Azhar almost brought India and Pakistan on the brink of a war on at least on two occasions — the Parliament attack and suicide attack on the CRPF convoy.

    ALSO READ | Row over UN proposal to blacklist Masood Azhar’s brother: War of words breaks out between US, China

    India had responded with biggest military mobilisation after 1971 called Operation Parakram after the Parliament misadventure while after the CRPF convoy attack, Induia carried out a target air strike on terrorist camps in Pakistan’s Balakot crippling the spine of JeM.

    Number of Red Corner Notices from Interpol in connection with these attacks are pending against 48-year-old Rauf Azhar who is ensconced in the safety of Pakistan establishment.

    According to an Interpol notice, Rauf Azhar is wanted for waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against government of India, assaulting the president, governor, etc, with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power besides being member of terrorist gang or organisation among other offences.

    A video of Rauf Azhar which was uploaded on a website in Pakistan, where he could be seen claiming responsibility for the Pathankot attack and complimenting his boys for it, was sent to Interpol.

    The video was later removed and the website also vanished.

    Rauf Azhar, who was tagged by the US as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ in 2010, was the chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2007 when his elder brother Masood Azhar was kept at an undisclosed destination by the ISI in the wake of international pressure.

    China has blocked a proposal by the US and India at the UN to blacklist Rauf Azhar, the second such move by Beijing in less than two months.

  • Jaish terrorist killed in Anantnag gunbattle identified as last surviving Pulwama attacker

    By IANS

    SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Saturday that one of the terrorists killed in the Anantnag encounter on December 30 last year was likely to be the last surviving militant involved in the Lethpora terror attack of 2019.

    The police quoted Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone, in its tweet saying, “The picture of one of the killed #Millitants in #AnantnagEncounter on Dec-30th matches with JeM top commander Samir Dar, who was the last surviving militant involved in Lethpora #Pulwama #militant Attack. We are going for DNA sample matching: IGP Kashmir.”

    Three militants and a soldier were killed in a nightlong encounter on December 30, 2021, in the Dooru area of Anantnag.

    A total of 40 CRPF troopers were killed in a fidayeen attack on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in the Lethpora area of Pulwama district on February 15, 2019.

  • ‘Did not forgive, will not forget’: CRPF on Pulwama terror attack anniversary

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that lost 40 troopers in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack said on Sunday that the country “did not forgive” and “will not forget” the supreme sacrifice made by the personnel.

    A wreath-laying ceremony was held at CRPF camp in Lethpora in Jammu and Kashmir to mark the second anniversary of the deadly attack.

    Senior officers of the paramilitary based at its headquarters in Delhi participated in the event in the virtual mode, CRPF spokesperson deputy inspector general (DIG) Moses Dhinakaran said.

    “Did not Forgive, will not Forget: Salute to our brothers who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation in #PulwamaAttack.

    “Indebted, we stand with the families of our valiant Bravehearts,” the force said in a Twitter post.

    READ| ‘No Indian can forget this day’: PM pays tributes to Pulwama martyrs

    Soon after the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force had carried out an airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, targeting terrorist camps.

    CRPF Director General A P Maheshwari also unveiled a video book dedicated to the 40 personnel killed in the line of duty.

    “We have inherited bravery which flows like blood in our veins,” he was quoted as saying by the spokesperson.

    “The video book has a content of 80 episodes and 300 minutes. A copy of the book will also be sent to the families of each of the personnel killed in the Pulwama suicide bombing attack,” Dhinakaran said.

    A CRPF bus in the fifth position of a 78-vehicle convoy was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber who detonated his explosives-laden SUV near it on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama on February 14, 2019.

    The convoy was ferrying over 2,500 personnel and all 39 in the ill-fated bus and a sub-officer stationed on the ground, as part of a road sanitisation party, were killed in the blast.

    CRPF Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mohan Lal, 50, who had “chased and fired” at the explosives-laden car, was named for the highest police medal for bravery, the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG), this Republic Day.

    In Jammu, CRPF personnel at the Bantalab campus also paid tributes to the 40 troopers of the force and a ‘vatika’ (garden) made to honour them was inaugurated, a spokesperson of the paramilitary force said.

    The garden has been named after Head Constable Naseer Ahmad and it is near the ‘Shaheed Smarak’, he said Ahmed was posted in 76th battalion and was deployed for protection duty of the convoy.

    He was killed in the attack.

    The garden was inaugurated by Ahmed’s wife Shazia Kousher in the presence of Inspector General of CRPF, Jammu Sector, P S Ranpise and other senior officers, the spokesperson said.

    Students and youth also took to streets to pay tributes to the CRPF personnel who were killed in Pulwama.

    The around 3.25 lakh-personnel-strong force is the world’s largest paramilitary with about 65 battalions or about 70,000 personnel deployed in the Kashmir Valley for undertaking counter-terrorism operations and rendering law and order duties.

    As per official data, a total of 2,224 CRPF personnel have been killed in action till now.

    The force was raised in 1939 as the Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) during the British Raj and was re-named the Central Reserve Police Force a decade later in 1949.

  • ‘No Indian can forget this day’: PM pays tributes to Pulwama martyrs

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to the CRPF jawans who were killed in the terror attack in Pulwama district of south Kashmir in February, 2019.

    “No Indian can forget this day. Two years ago, the Pulwama attack happened.We pay homage to all the martyrs. We are proud of our security forces and their bravery will continue to inspire generations,” he said at a function here.

    He said the country’s armed forces had shown time and again they were fully capable of protecting “our motherland”.

    Forty CRPF personnel were killed in the terrorist attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pulwama on February 14, 2019.

  • CRPF man killed in Pulwama attack gets President’s police medal for gallantry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: CRPF Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Mohan Lal who “chased and fired” at an explosives-laden car that rammed into a force bus in Pulwama killing him and 39 troops onboard in 2019 has been decorated with the highest police medal for gallantry on the eve of the Republic Day on Monday.

    A total of 207 police bravery medals were declared by the Union government apart from 89 President’s police medals for distinguished service and 650 police medals for meritorious service, as per a list published by the Union Home Ministry.

    Only two police personnel have been decorated with the top category President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) this time, CRPF’s Lal and late Jharkhand Police ASI Banua Oraon.

    As many as 205 personnel have been decorated with the second-highest police medal for gallantry or the PMG.

    50-year-old ASI Lal was the picket commander of the CRPF road opening party deployed on February 14, 2019 at milestone number 272 near the BSNL Tower in Lethpora, Pulwama on the Jammu-Srinagar highway when the dastardly terror attack was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit.

    The attack car was being driven by suicide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar with about 200 kgs of explosives inside.

    The CRPF said Lal, after passing of few vehicles of the cavalcade, noticed this car “running alongside the convoy and trying to enter between the convoy vehicles.

    ” The brave official “signalled and chased the car to stop but could not match its speed”.

    “Ultimately, finding no other option, he fired towards the suspicious car to stop but the car rammed into a nearby running CRPF bus and a huge blast took place,” the force said.

    The massive blast killed a total of 40 CRPF personnel, 39 on the bus and Lal, it said.

    The sub-officer who belonged to the 110th battalion of the force has been decorated with the PPMG for displaying gallantry during this incident, the force said.

    The Central Reserve Police Force, the lead force for anti-Naxal operations and counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir, also led the gallantry medals tally with a total 69 medals (1 PPMG and 68 PMG) followed by 52 earned by the JK Police, 20 by the Border Security Force, 17 by the Delhi Police and 13 by Maharashtra Police and others.

    Two personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, tasked to guard the Line of Actual Control with China, have also been given the police medal for gallantry.

    Deputy Commandant Rajesh Kumar Luthra has been decorated for displaying courage and presence of mind to defuse a faceoff with Chinese troops at Ladakh in July, 2019 while another officer of the border guarding force, Assistant Commandant Anurag Kumar Singh, has been given a gallantry medal for the second time for undertaking a counter-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.

  • Arnab’s WhatsApp chat shows leak of classified information, requires Parliamentary Committee probe, says NCP

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) demanded the forming of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami and BARC former CEO Partho Dasgupta where Arnab claimed to have the Balakot airstrike information three days in advance of the incident.

    Mumbai police have submitted the over 3000 pages charge-sheet and the purported WhatsApp chat that runs over 500 pages are part of this additional charge-sheet of TRP scam. In the WhatsApp chat, it was revealed that Arnab had information of Balakot airstrike three days in advance of the actual strike incident.

    ALSO READ: No coercive action against Arnab Goswami till January 29 in TRP case, says Mumbai Police

    Nawab Malik, NCP minister and a spokesperson said that Arnab Goswami has got the classified military information and he has subsequently shared with BARC former CEO Partho Dasgupta. “This is a very serious matter and concerned with national security. We will take up this matter to parliament and demand the setting up the JPC. We need to probe whether this classified information of Balakot airstrike by Indian Air Force is only shared with Dasgupta or anyone else who is spies and enemy of India. Besides, who is the person in government who shared this confidential information with Arnab Goswami,” Malik said.

    Malik further said that Goswami has committed a very serious crime that is against the interest of the nation. The Congress also demanded the probe in this incident.

    ALSO READ: WhatsApp delays new privacy policy by three months amid severe criticism

    Maharashtra Congress leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan tweeted that the Government of India must launch a thorough probe. “Also the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence must take this matter with utmost priority. #ArnabGate. The voluminous transcript of Mr Goswami’s chats released by Mumbai Police is deeply disturbing. Who gave access to such sensitive information from national security to constitutional amendments and political appointments? #ArnabGate,” said Chavan.

    Meanwhile, the Maharashtra BJP distanced from the leaked In the WhatsApp chat. Chandrakant Patil said that the BJP and its leaders have nothing to do with the leaked what’s app chat of the Arnab Goswami.

    “Someone is saying or claiming something that does not mean it is true. And, we should not also believe it also,” Patil said.