Three militants were killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces in the forests of Harwan near Dachigam in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
According to media reports, one of the militants slain in the anti-militancy operation, codenamed 'Operation Mahadev', was Hashim Musa aka Suleman, the alleged mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack in April, which left 26 people dead.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, Musa was a former regular with the Pakistan Army’s Para Forces. However, he was dismissed from the ranks, following which he joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
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Citing a source in the security establishment, the news report said it is possible that Musa, a trained para commando, may have been asked by the Special Service Group of the Pakistan Army to join the militant outfit to boost the group's activities in Kashmir.
He is believed to have infiltrated into India in September 2023.
It is suggested that Musa may have been "loaned" by Pakistan Army to LeT to lend his special forces expertise to terror operations in Kashmir, as he is said to have possessed skills like guerrilla warfare, high-altitude navigation, and advanced operational tactics
Musa’s affiliation with the Pakistan Army was revealed when one of the 14 Kashmiri Over Ground Workers (OGWs), who were questioned in connection with the Pahalgam attack, offered information, according to media reports.
Security forces had launched a major operation to track down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. Intelligence inputs over the past month had suggested that the terrorists might have moved towards the Dachigam area, which is around 20 km from Srinagar's city centre.
