NEW DELHI, May 21: Arjumand Gulzar, alias Burhan Hamza, a designated terrorist and the key mastermind behind the 2019 Pulwama terror attack on a CRPF convoy, has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), officials said here on Thursday.
Hamza, who was operating under heavy ISI-vetted security, was ambushed in Muzaffarabad.
He was critically injured and airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi, where he succumbed to his injuries, the officials said.
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The assailants managed to flee the scene before local security forces could intervene, they added.
Originally from Khar in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Hamza was once associated with Al Badr, moved to Al Baraq, and maintained a close alliance with Pakistan’s espionage agency, the ISI, after an acrimonious exit from the outfit.
He was declared a designated terrorist under UAPA for his involvement in orchestrating the February 14, 2019, suicide terror attack conducted by Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad, on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, which killed 40 personnel.
In retaliation, the Indian security forces ran an intelligence-led operation led by IAF jets in the early hours of February 26, 2019, striking the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot.
Hamza, who also had an alias, Doctor, was currently living in Cheela Bandi, a densely populated neighbourhood on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, with security details of eight commandos, a bullet-resistant (BR) vehicle, and an escort vehicle, indicating state-level protection and operational importance, sources said.
The security cover was given to him after he allegedly made a fabricated attack on himself somewhere between January and February 2025, they said.
He worked closely with Farooq Qureshi, a former Al Baraq commander whose name has repeatedly surfaced in dossiers linked to narcotics trafficking, counterfeit currency rackets, arms smuggling and cross-border militant operations in the Kashmir Valley.
The two operated from an industrial compound locally referred to as the “Machis Factory” in Muzaffarabad, the sources said.
Hamza maintained close ties with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, particularly with an officer identified as Col Rizwan, suggesting deeper intelligence ties and protection, they said.
The terrorist had recently married the daughter of Qadir Lala, a former Hizbul Mujahideen operative from Kupwara, currently employed as a security operator at the terror group’s housing project in Chek Shezad, Pakistan. He was also said to have maintained close ties with Murtaza, another former Hizbul Mujahideen operative from Pulwama, now based in Islamabad, making frequent visits to his residence, the sources said. (PTI)
