New Delhi: Adil Ahmad Dar, the 20-year-old terrorist who allegedly led the suicide attack in south Kashmir’s Awantipora Thursday, is believed to have been recruit by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on 19 March last year and trained for this specific “operation” against CRPF personnel, ThePrint has learnt.
The attack killed at least 37 CRPF personnel and wounded 40.
According to sources in the Jammu & Kashmir police, Dar, a local from Gandibagh, Pulwama, was a class 11 student when he joined the JeM.
A police source said he had been on the radar of J&K police ever since he started “ground work” for the terror outfit and was among those who were part of the early stone-throwers in the Valley.
“He was highly radicalised and joined JeM while he was a student,” said the police source.
“He left his studies to be their ground soldier. He has been on our radar since he started working for the outfit and was involved in a series of incidents,” the source added.
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‘I am proud’
Soon after the attack, the JeM claimed responsibility for the bloodbath, identifying Adil as the attacker.
A video showing Adil, armed with rifles, seated in front of a JeM banner, was also circulated on social media.
In the video, Dar admits that he joined JeM’s “fidayeen squad” for a “purpose”, adding that he had waited for this moment — ostensibly Thursday’s attack — for a year.
“By the time this video is out, I will be enjoying myself in heaven,” he says. “I am proud that I am the real propagator of Islam and my name will be written in golden letters.”
He then seeks to warn “Hindustan”, referring to its people as “drinkers of cow urine”, of “further misery” to be unleashed by “Allah’s messengers”.
“We have given you enough pain during the IC 814 hijacking (1999), Nagrota camp killing (2016),” he said. “From the Pathankot airbase attack to Pulwama police line to the BSF camp attacks, we have continuously proved ourselves and now we are stronger than before.
“Do not think that we will get disheartened by deaths of our commandos. It makes us stronger,” he adds.
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He also talks of his dream “to hear of the chants of Allah-hu-Akbar resonating across the minarets of the Babri masjid”.
“The day is not far when the Babri masjid will resonate with the chants of Allah-hu-Akbar,” he says.
As the video ends, he says the attack is just the “beginning”.
“There are hundreds of commandos who are working hard to achieve their goals. I have just done my job and achieved mine, but this is just the beginning,” he says.