Terror outfit claims city links to slain terrorist

HYDERABAD: The Telangana police has launched an inquiry into the claims of Kashmir based terror outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH) — a group alleged to have links to Al Qaeda — that one of the three militants killed in a gun battle with security forces in south Kashmir on Monday was from Hyderabad. However, the Telangana police late on Wednesday night identified the man as a resident of Manuguru mandal in Kothagudam district. The police are gathering more details from the family members.

In a post on social media, AGH identified one of the three persons as Mohammed Taufeeq, a resident of Hyderabad. Three persons had died in the gun battle in Hakura in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Monday. The police could identify two persons as Syed Owais of Guhnoo, Kokernag, in south Kashmir, and Eesa Fazli, a resident of Soura in Srinagar; the third could not be identified. In its post AGH claimed that Taufeeq had joined the group in 2017, having come to Kashmir from Hyderabad.

Written in Urdu, the message read, “Responding to the call of shariat or shahadat (martyrdom), Moham-mad Taufeeq started his jihadi journey in 2017 after making hijrah (migration) from India’s Hyderabad city to the mountains of Kashmir and was among the first in the ranks of Ansar Ghazwatul Hind.” 

The group added that Taufeeq’s ‘jihadi’ names were Sultan Zabul Al Hind and Abu Zarr Al Hindi.

The Jammu and Kashmir police contacted the Telangana police and sought their help to verify the claim. The unidentified body had been buried in a graveyard in Kashmir after DNA samples were collected.

Telangana DGP M. Mahender Reddy said the information is being verified. Teams of the counter intelligence and special branch and local agencies are digging into old records to see if any person linked with ISIS or AGH.

A police team from Telangana will be going to Kashmir to get first hand information about the outfit and the person who died in the gun battle.