Hakoora encounter: Third militant was from Hyderabad, claims outfit

Srinagar, Mar 14: Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, a militant outfit, has owned the third militant killed in the Hakoora gunfight on Monday night.
Ghazwatul Hind on its website Al-Nasr, has claimed that the militant, who was not identified and declared as a foreigner by the police, was a resident of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
It identified the slain as Mohammad Taufeeq, alias Sultan Zabul Al Hindi alias Zarr Al Hindi, who, it said, has joined the group in 2017.
Three militants, including Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen district commander Eisa Fazili aka Abu Yahya al Istashadi and Syed Owais Shafi alias Abu Barra, were killed in a brief encounter at Hakoora, Anantnag on March 12.
“Taufeeq started his 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.His jihadi names were Sultan Zabul Al-Hind and Abu Zarr Al Hindi,” the outfit said.
Terming Taufeeq as “descendant and heir of Mujahid and conqueror of India Mehmood Ghaznavi”, the Ansar said, “We congratulates Islamic Ummah on the martyrdom of the mujahid and preacher Muhammad Taufeeq and requests the Ahl-e-Imaan to pray for this great son of the Ummah. Ansar Ghazwatul Hind congratulates the respected mother and father of Muhammad Taufeeq and requests them to pray and keep patien(ce),” the global organisation said.
Ansar termed the “martyrdom” of Taufeeq as “a cry of truth for the Muslims of India”.
Ansar surfaced in the valley in 2017 when three local militants as Zahid Ahmad Bhat, resident of Nowdal Tral, Muhammad Ishaq Bhat, resident of Batagund Tral and Muhammad Ashraf Dar, resident of Baghi Trich Pulwama were killed at Gulab Bagh, Tral in August. The slain militants were initially affiliated to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) but then joined Ansar Ghazwatul Hind headed by Zakir Musa.
Police said that they are verifying the claims made by the outfit. “We are verifying the claims about his involvement, “Director General of Police (DGP), S P Vaid told The Kashmir Monitor.