Key Accused in Pulwama Terror Attack, Thought to be Killed in an Encounter in July, is Alive: Report

One of the key accused in the Pulwama attack, Sameer Dar, who was earlier thought to be killed, is alive and bolstering terror’s outfit activities in Jammu and Kashmir, people in the security establishment said. Dar was thought to have been gunned down in a encounter along with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander Mohammad Ismail Alvi alias Lambu on July 31 this year.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the second terrorist who was killed with Lambu in July encounter was a Pakistani national, who is yet to be identified. The operation was a result of a coordinated strike by the counter-insurgency Victor Force, headed by Major General Rashim Bali, in the Nagberan-Tarsar forest area of Pulwama, the report added.

Lambu, who is a relative of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar, is from Bahawalpur in Pakistanand was one of the main perpetrators of the February 14, 2019 Pulwama attack. He was killed in the encounter in July this year.

The report said that the other person was identified as Sameer Dar, a local from Pulwama. Dar had joined JeM in 2018. In 2018, Sameer left his home in Pulwama for Kashmir University following which his family also filed a missing report.

His photo with “illegal weapons” had also went viral on social media. He was operating in South Kashmir.

However, when security agencies later showed the body to his family, it was confirmed the second terrorist was not Dar. On closer examination, his photos, too, did not match the body, one of the people said.

An earlier report in Hindustan Times said that apart from his involvement in the Pulwama attack in which 40 security personnel were killed, Sameer Dar was part of “anti-national demonstrations” in the funeral of terrorists, and thereby “jeopardising national security and provoking youth for law and order in that area”.

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