Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar living in bomb-proof house in Pakistan's Bahawalpur: Intelligence agencies

Indian Intelligence agencies have confirmed that the chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Maulana Masood Azhar, is living inside a bomb-proof house behind Jaish's Bahawalpur headquarters in Pakistan

It is to be noted that Azhar is on top of India’s “most wanted” list and was the architect of February 14, 2019 Pulwama attack, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel. According to intelligence sources, Masood Azhar has three other known addresses: Kausar Colony, Bahawalpur; Madarassa Bilal Habshi, Bannu, Khyber-Paktunkhwa; and Madrassa Masjid-e-Luqman, Lakki Marwat in Bahawalpur.

The confirmation about Masood Azhar's whereabouts becomes crucial at a time when several reports have claimed that Pakistan may tell the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meet in Paris that the JeM boss is missing. Notably, Pakistan has sentenced Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed to five-and-a-half years in prison for terror funding in order to avoid getting 'blacklisted' by FATF but Islamabad had failed to take any concrete action against Masood Azhar so far.

Meanwhile, ahead of the FATF discussion on Pakistan dossier, the country's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has held a meeting with JeM commanders in Rawalpindi and assured the JeM and other terrorist groups that it will gradually remove the restrictions against terrorist organizations.

This meeting was attended by Jaish operations commander Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar and the ISI asked him to carry out terrorist attacks Jammu and Kashmir and other areas of India. The ISI has also asked Rauf to execute the attacks on India in such a manner that Jaish can be saved from international surveillance, according to the intelligence agencies report.

The JeM has also been told to once again intensify its old activities in Madrasas and other related institutes. These institutions have been asked to teach religious bigotry and jihad against India.