Srinagar: Security forces have reportedly killed the mastermind of Pulwama suicide bomb attack that killed over 40 CRPF personnel, in an encounter that broke out in Tral’s Pinglish village on Sunday afternoon.

According to sources, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist Mudasir Ahmed Khan alias Mohd Bhai was among the three terrorists killed.

The bodies of the three terrorists are charred beyond recognition and efforts are on to establish the identity of the third terrorist.

Also read: 3 terrorists killed in encounter in Pulwama of Jammu-Kashmir

According to the officials, 23-year-old Mudasir hailed from Pulwama and was an electrician with a graduate degree. It was Mudasir who had arranged the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike.

Mudasir is a resident of Mir Mohalla of Tral. He joined banned terror outfit JeM in 2017 as an overground worker and was later drawn into the terror outfit by Noor Mohammad Tantray, alias ‘Noor Trali’, who have helped the terror group’s revival in the Kashmir Valley.

After Tantray, the man behind spreading the wing of JeM in Kashmir was killed in December 2017, Mudasir left his home on January 14, 2018 and has been active since then.

After completing his graduation, Mudasir did a one-year diploma course as electrician from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI). The eldest son of a labourer, he is also believed to be involved in the terror strike at the Army camp in Sunjawan in February 2018, in which six personnel and a civilian were killed.

Security agencies are also probing his role in the Lethpora attack on a CRPF camp in January 2018 that left five CRPF personnel dead.

Suicide attacker Adil Ahmed Dar, who blew his explosive-laden vehicle next to a bus in a CRPF convoy on February 14, had been in constant contact with Mudasir, officials said.

An Army source confirmed that “three militants have been killed in Pinglish and arms were recovered from them”.

MyNation had reported on Sunday that the gunfight had started when security forces were carrying out a cordon and search operation after they got specific inputs that three or four terrorists were hiding in the area.

Also read: Encounter breaks out at Pulwama's Pinglish village, two terrorists killed

Jawans of 42 RR, 180 CRPF and J&K police are carrying out the joint operation.

While the security forces were searching houses, militants started firing indiscriminately. Retaliating, the security forces fired back. During the firing, two women, who had got stuck inside a house adjacent to the spot of the encounter, cried for help. Security forces ensured their safety and first evacuated both the women to a safe zone.

Sources said finally the house in which the terrorists were trapped was bombed and razed to the ground. The identities of the slain militants were yet to be ascertained as their bodies were charred beyond recognition.