Kashmiri Hindu Killings: Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy issues fresh threats as SIA reopens 1990s unsolved cases

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir has reopened investigations into several unresolved targeted killings of Kashmiri Hindus dating back to the 1990s. Soon after the cases were reopened, the United Liberation Council (ULC), described in intelligence assessments as a digital proxy linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), issued fresh online threats against Kashmiri Hindus who returned to the Valley under government rehabilitation initiatives.

 

 {Image: The New York Times )

 

 

According to intelligence assessments, the ULC has stepped up its intimidation campaign following the renewed investigations, property seizures and action against terror infrastructure in the Valley.

 

The group has circulated targeted lists and issued threats against Kashmiri Hindus who have returned to Jammu and Kashmir as part of government rehabilitation efforts. Intelligence inputs suggest the campaign is intended to create fear within the community and unsettle areas where displaced families have resettled.

 

The threats have come at a sensitive time, with the SIA and other agencies going back to cases involving killings during the height of militancy in the 1990s.

 

 

Reports suggest the ULC has also referred to incidents such as the Bijbehara, Gawkadal and Sopore tragedies while building its online narrative.

 

Officials believe the group is attempting to use these past incidents to give a justification for attacks on minority civilians and present fresh violence as part of an ongoing conflict.

 

The campaign comes as security agencies seek to establish accountability in cases that have remained unresolved for decades.

 

 

 

According to reports, the latest online campaign reflects the pressure faced by terror networks after their ground infrastructure was disrupted by security agencies.

 

With direct operations becoming increasingly difficult, Pakistan-based handlers are believed to be using digital proxy fronts such as the ULC to continue intimidation and threats.

 

Intelligence assessments shows that such fronts are also being used by networks associated with proscribed groups, including LeT and The Resistance Front (TRF), to operate despite international sanctions and restrictions on their parent organisations.

 

The strategy appears to have shifted from direct attacks and engagements with security forces to online threats aimed at vulnerable minority employees and civilians.

 

The intention, according to intelligence assessments, is to create an impression that militant networks remain active on the ground even as security agencies continue to dismantle their operational infrastructure.

 

 

The reopening of the Kashmiri Pandit killing cases is part of a wider effort to revisit unresolved cases from the militancy era.

 

The renewed investigations, along with property seizures and counter-terror operations, have now been followed by a fresh online campaign targeting the community.

 

For Kashmiri Hindus who have returned to the Valley, the threats shows the security concerns that continue to surround their return decades after the killings that forced many families to leave.