The Jaish-e-Mohammed had prepared another local suicide bomber as a backup to Adil Ahmad Dar in case he was unable to perform the task given to him by JeM chief Masood Azhar to carry out the deadly Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel on February 14, 2019.
While Dar, a local resident, successfully carried out the fidayeen strike to avenge the killing of Azhar’s nephews Usman and Talha Rasheed—both were killed in encounters by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir—investigators told THE WEEK that the Jaish leadership had prepared a “reserve” for Adil.
For the Pulwama conspiracy, the Jaish selected Adil when he volunteered after listening to Azhar's motivational speeches. “Usually the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit trusts its own fidayeen attackers but when the local youth volunteered, they decided to use him,” said an investigator.
But there was another local volunteer Yawar Ahmed Najar, who was also selected to act as a backup to Adil in case the latter failed in the operation. Najar was a resident of Darganie Gund in Tral and knew Pulwama like the back of his hand. He was part of the core group of the Jaish and had been introduced to Shakir Bashir Magrey, an Over-Ground Worker (OGW) of the Jaish, who also met Adil in 2018 to assist the suicide bomber by providing him shelter and logistical support.
''Jaish prepares its terror modules in a way that the right arm will not know what the left arm is doing. It will always have a Plan B. If Adil failed, they always had a backup ready,'' said an investigator.
Investigators revealed that the parallel charge had been given to Najar, who was being trained as a fidayeen by Jaish commander Mohammed Umar Farooq, the nephew of JeM chief Masood Azhar. Umar had been trained in Afghanistan in heavy weaponry such as anti-aircraft guns, sources said.
Najar does not find a mention among the 19 accused named in the chargesheet filed by the NIA on August 25. However, the investigations, which revealed the modus operandi of the Jaish, have exposed how an operation like Pulwama was not just based on the role played by the suspects or the accused who were part of the main conspiracy, but a much larger network of suicide bombers and over ground workers were kept ready in the periphery always.
Adil succeeded in ramming the explosive-laden vehicle into the CRPF convoy to execute the worst terrorist attack on security forces in recent times while Najar was killed in a counter-terror operation by security forces on May 31, 2019. There was no direct evidence on his links to the Pulwama conspiracy or his training as a suicide bomber for the same attack when he was killed.
But the Jaish knew its loss when it lost Najar. The outfit is always scouting for more volunteers in the valley to become a part of the fidayeen module that can be unleashed for several terror attacks and this time it had kept two options. Najar could have been used later if he was not killed, said an investigator.
The NIA investigators believe there are many OGWs who are still at large and many other young Jaish recruits who are being tapped by the outfit as possible fidayeen attackers. “Adil Dar was only one of them,'' said an officer.
Notably, Dar was the second local boy in south Kashmir who acted as a fidayeen and executed an audacious terror strike. Before him, Fardeen Khandey of Nazeenpora in Tral had executed the Lethpora fidayeen strike on a CRPF camp. Then, there are others like Najar in the background, who were also fidayeen bombers, hidden by the Jaish to be used as weapons when the opportunity arises.
