LeT militant’s diary reveals high-profile hitlist: Army

The Army today claimed to have uncovered a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) plot to kill Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and top J-K leaders, including ...

The Army today claimed to have uncovered a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) plot to kill Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and top J-K leaders, including People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah and Hurriyat Conference leader Abbas Ansari.

The plot was uncovered after a diary was recovered from LeT commander Abu Qasha who was killed in an ambush on the outskirts of Srinagar today. In the diary, J-K minister Muzzaffar Hussain Beigh and senior cops were also listed as targets, military sources said.

Hurriyat chief Ansari has apparently been included in the hit-list for initiating talks with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani. Referring to Omar as ‘‘chhota Abdullah’’ and Mehbooba Mufti as ‘‘Mohtarama Mufti’’, the diary lists Thackeray’s name as the LeT’s chief target.

Rashtriya Rifles sector commander Brigadier Chaudhry said Qasha had sneaked in a month ago to carry out the plan to attack the political leadership at election rallies across Kashmir. ‘‘His killing is a big blow to LeT. Two AK-47 rifles were recovered from him along with other ammunition,’’ he said.

The diary notes that a meeting of LeT commanders had taken place at Baramulla on April 2 to plot and coordinate the attack on the PDP rally at Uri that left 12 dead and over 50 injured.