Jaish’s new poster boy in PoK: Informer-turned-terror kingpin – Aashiq Ahmed Nengroo

New Delhi: Lure of big money turned Aashiq Ahmed Nengroo, a truck driver from Pulwama, from a police informer to a terror kingpin. Once seen as a pro-Indian Kashmiri, Negroo, succumbed to the lust for money and finally became one of the largest ‘exporter’ of arms, narcotics and terrorists into the Indian territory.

After the recent drone droppings in Punjab, Indian security agencies have launched a massive manhunt in the Kashmir Valley to nab more than 40 terrorists despatched by Nengroo, the new poster boy of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based terror outfit, desperate to escalate it’s anti-Indian operations.

The well-trained terrorists infiltrated through the international border in Jammu and Kashmir by Nengroo, also includes a few small groups of fidayeens.

With the connivance of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, Nengroo orchestrated the sensational arms dropping case in which drones were used to smuggle lethal weapons into India from across the border, last month.

Once an informer for the Indian Army, Nengroo had helped security agencies by providing tip-offs about some of the dreaded terrorists who were killed in encounters.

As a driver, hailing from Kakapora area (Pulwama) located 12 km away from Srinagar, Nengroo had built a strong network among the separatist leaders and anti-Indian rogues.

Due to this network Nengroo had a deep insight into the terror activities centred in and around Srinagar, reveals the dossier prepared by Intelligence agencies on him.

However, lure of money turned Nengroo into a sympathiser of th separatists.

The dossier says that Nengroo later came into contact of a Hijbul Mujahideen leader, who subsequently assigned him to organise stone pelting incidents in Pulwama, a hub of stone pelters in the valley.

For every anti-Indian assignment, Nengroo fetched a couple of thousand rupees. Eyeing such lucrative assignments Nengroo left Hijbul and became ISI’s key player in the Valley.

Getting handsome funds from his handlers, he bought a few trucks and got involved in smuggling of weapons and also helped terror outfits in transportation of terrorists. Finally he joined the Jaish and sneaked into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

The intel dossier also reveals that Nengroo’s brother, Mohammed Abbas was a Jaish terrorist and was killed in a police encounter, a few years ago.

His other brother, Riyaz also joined the Jaish and was arrested last year on charges of transporting three terrorists from Jammu to Srinagar in September 2018.

Sources in the Jammu and Kashmir Police revealed that in a bid to execute a series of terror attacks, after the abrogation of Article 370, Nengroo had planned to smuggle weapons into the valley.

However on September 12, a truck bearing number JK3E 2000 was intercepted by security agencies at Lakhanpur, on the Punjab-Jammu and Kashmir border.

Four AK 56 and two AK 47 rifles were recovered from the truck. Sources said that after the recovery of these weapons, agencies unearthed a vicious terror plan of the ISI to be executed by a Jaish module at the behest of Nengroo.

At present, National Investigation Agency, in coordination with Punjab and J&K Police is investigating this case.

Published on: Oct 7, 2019 at 15:20 IST

By IANS