Srinagar, March 11: Security forces gunned down three terrorists of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in an encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. One of the slain terrorists was identified as Mudasir Ahmed Khan alias Mohammed Bhai who masterminded the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. Another terrorist killed in Pulwama encounter was Sajjad Bhat whose vehicle was used in the February 14 strike.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Pinglish area of Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, which later turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire at the search party of the forces who retaliated. During the encounter, three terrorists were killed. The bodies of the three militants are charred beyond recognition and efforts are on to establish their identity, officials told news agency PTI. Rahul Gandhi Attacks Narendra Modi, Says ‘Tell Pulwama Victim Families Who Released Masood Azhar’.

According to officials, lesser-known JeM terrorist Khan has been identified as the brains behind the audacious terror strike in Pulwama that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead on February 14. Khan, an electrician with a graduate degree, allegedly arranged the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike. He was a resident of Mir Mohalla of Tral.

Khan joined the JeM sometime in 2017 as an overground worker and was later drawn into the terror outfit by Noor Mohammed Tantrey, alias 'Noor Trali', who is believed to have helped the terror group's revival in the Kashmir Valley. After Tantray was killed in December 2017, Khan disappeared from his home on January 14, 2018, and has been active since then, officials said. Suicide attacker Adil Ahmed Dar, who blew his explosive-laden vehicle next to a bus in a CRPF convoy, had been in constant contact with Khan, they added.

After completing his graduation, Khan did a one-year diploma course as an electrician from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI). The eldest son of a labourer, Khan is also believed to be involved in the terror strike at the army camp in Sunjawan in February 2018, in which six personnel and a civilian were killed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 11, 2019 10:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).