A Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist identified as Mudasir Ahmed Khan, alias Mohd Bhai, is the brain behind the fidayeen terror strike in Pulwama that left 40 CRPF personnel dead on February 14, security officials said on Sunday.
Security officials said that 23-year-old Khan, an electrician with a graduate degree hailing from Pulwama district, arranged for the vehicle and explosives used in the terror strike.
A resident of Mir Mohalla in Tral, Khan joined the Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2017 as an overground worker and was drawn into the Jaish fold by Noor Mohammed Tantrey, alias Noor Trali, who is believed to have helped in the revival of the terror outfit in Kashmir valley.
After Tantray was killed in December 2017, Khan disappeared from his home on January 14, 2018.
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 Khan, the security officials said.
After completing his graduation, Khan did a one-year diploma to become an electrician from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI). The eldest son of a labourer, Khan 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, the security sources said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the February 14 terror attack, had carried out searches at the residence of Khan on February 27.
A Maruti Eeco minivan was used in the Pulwama terror attack. It was bought by another Jaish operative 10 days before the strike. The Jaish operative, identified as Sajjad Bhat, is a resident of Bijbehara in south Kashmir, He is on the run, the security sources said.