CHANDIGARH: A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Faisal Nadeem alias Abu Qatal, one of the most wanted terrorists responsible for multiple deadly attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, was reportedly shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jhelum, Sindh, Pakistan, on Saturday night.
The 43-year-old Rehman was a close associate of 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, along with two other Pakistan-based LeT handlers. His security guard was also killed in the attack.
He was the main handler of the terror outfit involved in planning various attacks in the Poonch-Rajouri region of Jammu and Kashmir and was charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other sections for an attack on Hindu minorities in Dhangri village of Rajouri district in January 2023.
The case, registered as RC-01 & 02/2023/NIA/JMU, pertained to the terror attack on civilians in Dhangri, Rajouri, on January 1, 2023, followed by an IED blast the next day. "In the various investigations conducted by NIA into the terror incidents in the Poonch-Rajouri region, his involvement was found," said sources.
Militants struck Dhangri village on January 1, 2023, targeting villagers before fleeing the scene, leaving behind an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Five people were killed in the firing by terrorists, while two others died in the IED explosion the next morning. As many as 14 villagers were injured in the twin attacks.
Sources said he was also involved in the Bhatta-Durian terror incident on April 20, 2023, in which five Army personnel were killed. He was also accused in the Kandi attack on officers and personnel of the 9 Para Special Forces on May 5, 2023.
Rehman was the mastermind behind the Reasi bus attack, which was orchestrated on the day of the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on June 9, 2024. In the attack, terrorists fired on a bus carrying pilgrims to the Shiv Khori temple, killing nine and injuring 41.
Born on February 4, 1982, in the Sanghar district of Sindh province, Pakistan, Rehman was in charge of LeT's Khuiratta dets (small groups of terrorists ready to infiltrate) located in the Kotli district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). "He was the main link between the LeT cadre and its operators in PoK and Sindh province of Pakistan, and he was the most trusted handler of Saeed," said sources.
Sources further revealed that Rehman had infiltrated the Jammu region in the early 2000s and again in 2005. He maintained a wide network of overground workers in Poonch and Rajouri through old contacts. He, along with Saifullah Sajid Jutt, another Pakistan-based terrorist, was the main handler of LeT terrorists operating in the Poonch-Rajouri belt of Jammu and Kashmir.