A Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked terror group has issued a fresh threat note targeting Kashmiri Pandit government employees, releasing their personal details and warning of targeted attacks in both the Kashmir Valley and Jammu, media learnt.
The United Liberation Council (ULC), described by top Indian intelligence sources as one of the shadow fronts used by Lashkar-e-Taiba, has released what amounts to a direct hit list of Kashmiri Pandit officials. The document contains the names and phone numbers of six government employees, with the threat specifically directed at those working under government employment schemes.
The group has also threatened immediate and severe retaliation against security personnel and the administration over the attachment or seizure of properties belonging to terrorist sympathisers and fighters.
Kashmiri Pandit Employees Put On Hit List
The threat note says the group is monitoring civil government departments, specifically the Revenue Department, where Kashmiri Pandits employed under government packages are posted.
The release contains the names and phone numbers of six Kashmiri Pandit government employees. According to intelligence sources, the disclosure of such personal information is intended to intimidate the employees and identify them for targeted attacks.
Media is withholding the identities and contact details of those named in the threat.
The organisation has further warned Kashmiri Pandits that relocating from the Valley to Jammu will not protect them from attacks, threatening to pursue them outside Kashmir as well.
It has also warned against administrative accommodations for migrant employees, including remote-working and work-from-home arrangements.
Warning To LG, DGP And Centre
The threat note issues an open warning to the Lieutenant Governor, the Director General of Police and authorities in Delhi. The group also says it will not distinguish between individuals during future attacks.
In another part of the note, it points out that more than 90% of the local police force lives and moves within local communities, presenting police personnel as vulnerable to attacks anywhere and at any time.
Lashkar Uses Shadow Fronts: Intelligence Sources
Top Indian intelligence sources told media that terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba routinely operate through shadow front names including The Resistance Front (TRF), ULC and PAFF.
According to the sources, such fronts are used to project targeted religious and civilian killings as part of a secular and indigenous resistance rather than Pakistan-backed terrorism.
The sources said this is also aimed at evading scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force and international counter-terrorism sanctions.
Employee Data Release A Deliberate Tactic
Intelligence assessments indicate that releasing the names, contact numbers and work locations of employees recruited under the Prime Minister’s Rehabilitation Package is a deliberate tactic.
Security agencies have also noted a shift towards the use of small and easily concealed weapons, including pistols and revolvers, in targeted killings carried out by hybrid terrorists.
According to intelligence sources, such operatives are untracked recruits who continue with normal civilian jobs while carrying out targeted assassinations of specific individuals named on hit lists.
Security Stepped Up Around Migrant Quarters
In response to threats against government employees and attacks linked to the attachment of properties of terrorist facilitators, security forces have maintained heightened surveillance around migrant quarters.
Secure transit routes are being enforced, while intelligence-led operations have also been stepped up to neutralise terrorist modules involved in sharing employee data online.
Source: News18