Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Umer Harris, alias ‘Khargosh’ (rabbit), is believed to be in Saudi Arabia after managing to escape the country using a forged passport issued in the name of Sajjad, claiming to be a resident of Rajasthan, officials said on Sunday.
The Srinagar police, which is spearheading the investigation into the inter-state LeT terror module, has shared details with central intelligence agencies, raising concerns about systemic loopholes that allow such abuse, they said.
While the case, registered by the J&K Police earlier this month, is likely to be taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), details have been shared with the state police forces concerned to facilitate urgent action and plug the gaps, they said.
Contrary to earlier reports stating that Harris hailed from Karachi, it has emerged that he is from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He joined the LeT to evade police prosecution as he had several arson cases pending against him in Karachi. He was later pushed by the terror group into Jammu and Kashmir in 2012.
Harris earned the alias ‘Khargosh’ as he could hop from place to place in no time, evading the security dragnet. According to investigations and interrogations of the arrested accused, Harris, after infiltrating Kashmir from the northern side, stayed at various locations in Bandipora and Srinagar and married the daughter of an LeT overground worker (OGW). The Nikah ceremony was held in Jaipur under his assumed name, Sajjad.
Officials stated that the marriage documents were also used to support his application for an Indian passport. The unravelling of this inter-state terror module by the Srinagar police has exposed several loopholes. Questions are being raised about how a passport was issued by authorities in Rajasthan despite the police verification system in place.
The LeT terrorist managed to flee to Indonesia, from where he is believed to have used another forged travel document to station himself somewhere in Saudi Arabia in 2024–25, the officials said.
They said efforts are being made through diplomatic channels to bring him back to India and seek his deportation from the Gulf country.
These details emerged after the Srinagar Police busted a “deep-rooted” inter-state LeT module and arrested five people, including a Pakistani terrorist, Abdullah alias Abu Hureira, who had been on the run for 16 years and had successfully established bases outside the Union Territory.
The arrest of Abdullah, along with another Pakistani national, Usman alias Khubaib, was another major success for the Srinagar Police, coming six months after the dismantling of a “white-collar” terror cell centred at Faridabad’s Al Falah University.
During interrogation, Abdullah informed his captors about his and Harris’ movements across India, particularly in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab. This included the marriage ceremony, following which the bride’s father was detained as he was well aware of the Pakistani terrorist’s true identity, the officials said.
Three Srinagar residents, identified as Mohammad Naqeeb Bhat, Adil Rashid Bha, and Ghulam Mohammad Mir alias Mama, were among the five arrested. They are accused of providing shelter, food and logistical support to the terrorists.
