SRINAGAR, Aug 27: Twenty-two-year-old Mohammad Lateef Bhat, described by Jammu and Kashmir Police as the Valley’s only surviving active local terrorist, has emerged as one of the most wanted men in Kashmir after remaining largely unnoticed by security agencies until July this year.
Police have announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh for information leading to Bhat’s arrest and have circulated his photographs across South Kashmir and Srinagar.
According to police records, Bhat, a resident of Khrewan Chader village in Kulgam district, is believed to have joined terrorist ranks in 2025. Security agencies, meanwhile, estimate that 20-30 Pakistani terrorists and operatives linked to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba continue to operate covertly in the Valley’s forested areas.
Bhat came under the security agencies’ radar on July 2, when he was allegedly captured on a surveillance camera in Shopian along with Lashkar operative Zakir Ahmad Ganai.
Security forces subsequently launched a joint operation during which Ganai was killed, but Bhat managed to escape.
Police have accused Bhat of involvement in two attacks in South Kashmir in July. On July 22, Special Operations Group head constable Ashiq Hussain was shot dead in a crowded market in Anantnag.
Nine days later, two non-local workers were killed at a brick kiln in Kulgam’s Kilam village. The attacks were among the first such incidents reported in the Valley since the Pahalgam terror attack in July last year.
Following the killing of the police personnel, security forces detained more than 3,500 suspected overground workers across the region as part of intensified counter-terror operations.
Bhat had studied at Government Higher Secondary School, Ashmuji, before enrolling at Government Degree College, Kulgam, for a bachelor’s degree. He did not complete his studies and briefly worked as a glazier before going underground in early 2025.
Investigators believe Zakir Ahmad Ganai played an important role in influencing Bhat to join militancy. In November 2025, an outfit calling itself the Kashmir Revolutionary Army (KRA) publicly announced Bhat’s association with its ranks.
Police, however, maintain that the KRA is a proxy name used by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, similar to The Resistance Front (TRF).
Authorities have urged anyone with credible information about Bhat’s whereabouts to immediately contact security forces.
