Lashkar’s Abu Dujana had gone to meet a girl before Pulwama encounter

Slain Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Abu Dujana was allegedly involved with several women in Kashmir and had even married one of them, officials said on Tuesday, describing the militant as a terror for women in the valley.

Dujana, 27, was killed early on Tuesday at Hakripura in Pulwama district, allegedly while visiting a woman believed to be his wife.

Kashmir director general of police SP Vaid confirmed that Dujana was married but said it was not clear if the LeT commander had gone to meet her.

“He had married a local Kashmiri girl, today also he had gone to meet a girl, (but) can’t be sure if it was the same girl,” Vaid told HT.

The GOC of 15 Corps, Lt Gen. J Sandhu, told reporters that Dujana was less into militancy of late and more into “aiyashi”, a Hindi word that translates to debauchery.

“He was not really involved in many attacks, vo yahan aiyyashi kar raha tha bas, was a nuisance,” the army official said.

Kashmir inspector general police (IGP), Muneer Khan, also hinted that Dujana was involved in “harassment of girls”.

“I want to tell woman and girls in the valley that they are safe now,” Khan said.

Another LeT militant was also shot dead along with Dujana while a civilian was killed when security forces fired on stone-pelting protesters at the encounter site.

Local sources in the village and elsewhere said Dujana had gone to meet his wife, whom he had married sometime last year.

Sources said the woman hails from Singoo village near Kakapora in Pulwama. “It (the marriage) was during 2016 when the LeT maintained a low profile,” a source said.

The marriage, sources said, could have been the reason for his rift with his-Pakistan-based handlers.

Dujana was challenged by one of his aides, Abu Ismail, who set up a rival faction along with some Kashmiri youth. Sources said most of militant incidents involving LeT was carried done by the rival group, including the recent attack on Amarnath pilgrims.

Intelligence sources said Dujana was named the LeT commander for Kashmir valley after the death of Abu Qasim, the mastermind of an earlier attack on a BSF convoy in Udhampur in 2015.

However, Dujana was disarmed by his group after the rift surfaced a few months ago.

A few months ago the lesser known Abu Ismail was made the LeT chief in the valley.

“In recent times, he (Dujana) was not involved in any major terrorist attacks, he just had nuisance value,’” Lt Gen Sandhu said.

Dujana had many close calls earlier. In May, he managed to escape after a mob pelted stones at security forces during an encounter. His luck ran out on Tuesday.