Brain behind Pulwama terror attack still in Kashmir Valley?

NEW DELHI: Top Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, who is suspected to be the brain behind the Pulwama attack, may still be in the Kashmir valley, security agencies suspect.
Latest intelligence inputs suggest that Ghazi alias Rasheed Afghani may have had a narrow escape during an encounter which took place days before the Thursday's deadly terror attack in Pulwama. A local militant was killed in the encounter which also claimed the life of a soldier.
Ghazi, who is an Afghan war veteran and an IED specialist, is learnt to have trained Adil Dar, the suicide bomber who drove the explosive-laden SUV into the CRPF convoy.
On January 3, TOI was the first to report about the top Jaish commander hiding in Pulwama after having crossed the border on December 9. The security forces have launched a massive manhunt for him after the Pulwama attack.
As per information available with agencies, Ghazi is one of the closest and most trusted aides of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar. He has been trained in warfare techniques and IED preparation by the Taliban and is known to be one of the finest hands of Jaish.
“He returned to POK in 2011 after fighting the NATO forces in Federally Administered Tribal Area and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Since then, he has been the most sought after jihadi trainer who specialises in Deeni and Askari (literature and weaponry) training in camps operated by Jaish and ISI across PoK,” a source said.
Ghazi was sent to the Valley after security forced neutralised Masood Azhar’s nephew, Usman. Soon after his killing, JeM released a statement vowing to seek revenge. Azhar had already been seething for revenge after the death of his first nephew Talha Rasheed who was killed in 2017.
It is believed that Azhar sent Ghazi and two other commanders to the Valley in December first week , who then began to give final shape to a deadly plan which was to be executed around February 9, death anniversary of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.