Killed Jaish militant headed terrorist funding network: Army

JAMMU - Self-styled divisional commander of terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Dawood Khan alias Abdullah Sani, who was killed in a gun fight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district Sunday, was funding the terror network in the area, the army said Tuesday

The militant, who was involved in an attack on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat, not only guided the strings of terror, but also was trusted by his Pakistani mentors for handling huge sums of money, the Army’s Northern Command spokesman said in a release.

It cited a diary recovered from the site of the shoot-out, which reveals names of the terrorists, their over-ground sympathizers and the huge sums paid to them by Dawood.

“The recovery of a diary with details of cash transactions of lakhs of rupees from the slain terrorist also corroborates his obvious involvement in funding a network of overground sympathisers and accomplices in carrying out his crimes,” the release said.

Dawood was trained in handling arms and explosives and assembling improvised explosive devices, besides carrying out ambushes since reaching the state in 1998.

“He was operating in Doda, Kishtwar, Gool, Ramban, Mahore, Rajouri and Poonch belts as an LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) militant. He joined the JeM in 2002. Dawood had managed to escape when security forces challenged a group of militants in a nine-day gunbattle in the Bhatti Dhar forest belt in Mendhar on Jan 1 last year,” according to the release.

Dawood also seemed to be inspired by Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as a big picture of bin Laden was also recovered from the spot.