Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Ghazi Abdul Rasheed is believed to be the mastermind behind the gruesome Pulwama terror attack the shook the whole nation to the core. He is one of the closest aides of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
Top security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir believe Ghazi Rasheed , who is the IED expert trained Adil Ahmad Dar, the man who executed the suicide attack.
Ghazi Rasheed along with his two associates managed to infiltrate Kashmir around mid-December last year.
Masood Azhar sent Ghazi Rasheed to Kashmir to avenge the killings of his two nephews in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Sources in intelligence say Ghazi Rasheed had an encounter with security forces at Ratnipora village in Pulwama district and had a narrow escape.
In that encounter, one local militant was killed but three others managed to escape. An army jawan HV Baljeet was also martyred in the gunfight.
These are the first set of pictures of Ghazi Rasheed acquired by India Today.
Who is Ghazi Rasheed?
Ghazi Rasheed is a close associate of Masood Azhar and one of the most trusted Jaish commanders, who joined the outfit in 2008. The 32-year-old was trained by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He returned from Pakistan’s North Waziristan in 2010 and was working as trainer for Jaish recruits in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Ghazi Rasheed commands all Jaish operations in India and is believed to be hiding in south Kashmir.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed has built a strong network of over ground workers (OGWs) in south Kashmir in recent years including some local recruits. Security agencies are trying to crack down on this network and nab Ghazi Rasheed.
PNN/Agencies