Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 19: Top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Shakeer Ahmad alias Chhota Hafiz, who was carrying a reward of Rs 20 lakh on his head and was wanted to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in connection with September 7, 2011 blast outside Delhi High Court, has sent feelers to the security agencies that he was ready for surrender along with some other militants on some conditions.
Confirming the conversation, top official sources said that Chhota Hafiz was presently hiding somewhere in Warwan hills in Kishtwar district.
“Though we would like Chhota Hafiz and other militants to surrender and face trial in Delhi High Court blast and other cases, we continued our efforts to nab them simultaneously anticipating that offer of surrender by the militants could be a ploy to delay police operations’’, they asserted.
Chhota Hafiz along with Aamir Kamal alias Kamran and Junaid Akram Malik were wanted to NIA in the Delhi High Court blast. All three carried a reward of Rs 20 lakh each on their head—Rs 10 lakh announced by the NIA and an equal amount by the State Government.
Sources said Chhota Hafiz, Kamran and Junaid Malik along with another Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Mohammad Shaffi were all camping in upper reaches of Warwan but were putting up separately to avoid getting trapped together by the security forces.
They added that Army and police in an encounter at Pati Mahal in Kishtwar district narrowly missed Chhota Hafiz last month when Mohammad Akhter was killed. Hafiz had escaped as Army and police wanted to capture him alive due to his involvement in Delhi High Court blast.
According to sources, the killing of Hafiz, Kamran and Junaid would keep mystery of Delhi High Court blast unsolved permanently. NIA and Kishtwar police had so far arrested three militants in connection with Delhi High Court blast, all of whom hailed from Kishtwar. One of them has agreed to become approver in the case.
Sources said Shakeer Ahmad wanted his surrender to be shown as an arrest in an encounter. Shakeer’s conversation has been intercepted with a former Kashmiri militant. They added that if everything goes well, Shakeer could surrender anytime.
Sources said police was treading cautiously for two reasons. One, it wanted to capture all three militants wanted to NIA alive to solve Delhi High Court blast mystery and Second, the award money of Rs 20 lakh on the head of each of the three militants, should go to the right persons.
Sources pointed out that Hizbul Mujahideen commander Jehangir Saroori was the major hurdle in surrender of the militants of his group. Saroori was strongly opposed to surrender of any of the militants and wanted them to fight security forces and police till the finish.
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