Pak Army shifts JuD, Hizb chiefs to safety

Fearing covert operations against top terror operatives by India, Pakistan’s Army has shifted Jamaat-ud Dawa’s Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Syed Salahuddin to a high-security facility near Lahore, intelligence agencies have informed the Centre.

Saeed is the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. His organisation JuD is a front for terror outfit Laskar-e-Tayyaba, said to have suffered the maximum damage in last month’s surgical strikes by India across the LoC.

Salahuddin heads Hizbul Mujahideen whose commander Burhan Wani’s encounter killing three months ago has caused unrest in Kashmir.

Intelligence sources said that Maulana Masood Azhar who heads Jaish-e-Mohammed has already been provided security by Pakistan Army commandos.

Indian intelligence agencies have been closely monitoring the movement of key terror operatives in Pakistan after the September 18 Uri terror attack led to the surgical strikes.

Intelligence sources said when National Security Advisor Ajit Doval informed the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) last week that as many as 100 militants were waiting to infiltrate, he had also mentioned how Pakistan’s Army was providing security to terror launchpads and training camps. This is being seen as a direct fallout of the surgical strikes.

Indian agencies are watching the activities of key terror operatives as a preventive measure since inputs suggest that they may carry out strikes in major cities during the festive season. Pakistan’s security establishment feels that a covert operation might be planned to target the likes of Hafiz Saeed and Maulana Masood Azhar.

The union home ministry has already put states on high alert directing additional deployment at crowded places. Intelligence inputs suggest that terror groups like Jaish and LeT were trying to activate their sleeper cells in urban areas.

“There is credible information to suggest that Pakistan’s Army has moved these militant leaders to a safe location near Lahore. Security agencies in Pakistan have also restricted movement of these terror operatives. This reveals how state actors continue to support terror groups against India,’’a senior security official said.

The Centre has asked both the Army and the Border Security Force to ensure that no major infiltration takes place, as Pakistan will try to push militants into Kashmir before the onset of winter season.

With the number of active militants in the Valley close to about 150 now Pak-based terror groups are desperate to increase presence.

Sources said the spate of recent terror attacks in the Valley in Baramulla, Langate and Pampore had been carried out by militants already present in the Valley and no major infiltration attempt has taken place in the last few days.