One of the two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants killed in the attack on a CRPF training camp in Awantipora on Sunday was 16-year-old Fardeen Ahmad Khanday, son of police constable Ghulam Mohammad Khandey reportedly posted in Srinagar in the J&K police.
Khanday was a Class 10 student and became a militant three months ago, reported India Today.
Before the attack he recorded a video message in which he talked about the plan to attack the paramilitary camp and which is now being shared virally on WhatsApp and social media.
"God willing, when this message reaches you, I will already be a guest of my Lord in his heaven," he said at the beginning of the eight-minute video, in which he urged other young people to join the Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Advertisement
CRPF spokesperson Rajesh Yadav Khanday was a resident of Tral, the hometown of poster boy for Hizbul mujahideen, Burhan Wani. The other fidayeen was identified as 22-year-old Manzoor Baba Drubgam also in south Kashmir Pulwama district.
In the pre-dawn strike, five CRPF men were killed when heavily armed militants carried out a suicide attack on a camp of the paramilitary force in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, reported PTI.
This is also a concern as the trend makes a comeback after 15 years when local militants have become Fidayeen, India Today reported.
"Five CRPF jawans have been martyred and three others are injured. The bodies of two terrorists have also been recovered. We believe another terrorist has also been killed but the body has not been retrieved," Yadav told PTI.
Advertisement
Local militants joining hands with JeM to launch fidayeen has traditionally been the handiwork of hard Pakistani terrorist operatives.
The last case was in 2003 when a local militant was part of a fidayeen squad that killed five CRPF personnel, added India Today.
Yadav said the deceased personnel are inspector Kuldip Roy from Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh), head constable Taufail Ahmed of Rajouri (J&K), constables Sharief-ud-din Ganaie of Chadoora in Budgam (J&K), Rajendra Nain of Churu (Rajasthan) and P K Panda of Sundargarh (Odisha).
He said while Roy died of heart attack during the gunbattle, the four others succumbed to bullet injuries.
The injured personnel are constables Narendra Kumar, Malam Samadhan and Mala Ram, he said.
Terming the attack "unfortunate", Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police S P Vaid said security forces had input about an imminent militant strike in the Kashmir Valley for the past three days.
He said as long as Pakistan keeps sending militants, security forces and people of Kashmir will continue to go through this.
"There was an input from the last two-three days. They (militants) were trying. They probably could not get a place and time earlier. So, they struck last night," Vaid told reporters.
The CRPF camp also serves as a training centre for troops inducted for counter-militancy operations in the Kashmir Valley.
Advertisement
A Jammu and Kashmir Police team is also co-located with CRPF in this camp.
(With PTI inputs)
