New Delhi: Abu Qatal Sindhi, a self-styled Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander of the Khuiratta launch pad, has been shot dead by ‘unknown gunmen’ in the Jhelum area of Pakistan, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources within the Indian security establishment told ThePrint that under his command, the terror launch pad in Kotli district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir had been the epicentre of LeT activities, orchestrating targeted attacks in the Rajouri-Poonch sectors in India.
Sindhi was directly involved in facilitating the infiltration of LeT terrorists into the Rajouri-Poonch sector of Jammu & Kashmir, in addition to overseeing the supply of arms and ammunition through drone drops in the region, sources confirmed. He was among the top LeT commanders and held the confidence of senior leadership, including Hafiz Saeed.
He managed the most significant LeT camp in Kotli and reported directly to Sajid Jutt, who is based in Rawalpindi. According to sources, Sindhi was also the main link between LeT cadres and operators in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Sindh province of Pakistan.
On Sunday, social media posts also surfaced suggesting that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed too had been killed by unknown gunmen. However, sources dismissed such claims, clarifying that, according to their intelligence, Sindhi had been travelling with his gunman in the rear seat, while he himself was seated in the front alongside the driver.
At a red light Saturday evening, assailants on motorcycles opened fire at the vehicle, killing Sindhi instantly and critically injuring his gunman. The gunman was rushed to hospital, where he later succumbed to injuries.
Sources described Sindhi as a key LeT operative responsible for coordinating several major attacks in the Rajouri-Poonch region in recent months.
Though Sindhi was already known as a prominent LeT figure, his direct involvement became evident following the arrest of one Nisar from Surankote, Poonch. Nisar was linked to the Bhatta Durian attack on an Army vehicle in April 2023.
Sindhi had previously operated in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 2000s before returning to Pakistan in 2005. He then leveraged his network of over ground workers (OGWs) in Poonch and Rajouri to revive terrorist activities for the LeT.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had chargesheeted him in multiple cases including the New Year’s Day attack on Dhangri village in Rajouri district in 2023 in which seven civilians were killed. Further, the NIA suspects that Sindhi was the mastermind of the Reasi bus attack carried out on the eve of the oath-taking ceremony of the Union Cabinet on 9 June 2024. Nine pilgrims were killed and another 41 injured in this attack.
Sindhi is also an accused in the Kandi attack in which officers and personnel of the 9 Para Special Forces were targeted on 5 May 2023.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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