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Security agencies confirmed that Gulzar was actively involved in anti-India terror operations and played a major role in radicalising youth in South Kashmir. He was wanted in India for allegedly spearheading an extensive terror network in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to officials, more than 50 senior commanders linked to terror organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen have been killed by unidentified assailants in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir since 2023.
Arjmand Gulzar was a native of Ratnipora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Around seven years ago, he travelled to Pakistan and later joined the banned Al-Badr terror outfit. Over time, he rose to become the organisation’s operational commander and was allegedly handling recruitment, funding and arms supply networks in Kashmir from across the border.
The Ministry of Home Affairs declared him a terrorist in 2022. He remained on the “Most Wanted” list of Indian security agencies for his alleged involvement in promoting terrorism in Pulwama and other parts of South Kashmir.
Officials stated that Pulwama has long remained one of the most sensitive regions affected by terrorism. Similar to slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, Arjmand Gulzar was considered part of a digital radicalisation network that allegedly used social media platforms and local contacts to influence youth toward militancy.
Security sources said his network remained active in Pulwama, Shopian and Awantipora. He allegedly coordinated with overground workers from Pakistan to facilitate the movement of weapons, funds and operational instructions into India.
His name had also surfaced in multiple investigations linked to explosives recovery, grenade attacks and terror recruitment activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials described the killing of Arjmand Gulzar as another major setback for terror groups attempting to revive terrorism in the Kashmir Valley from bases operating in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The latest incident follows a series of targeted attacks against senior terrorists in Pakistan. In April, Sheikh Yousuf Afridi, a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attackers reportedly fired multiple rounds at Afridi, who was known to be a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.
Earlier in March, unidentified gunmen targeted wanted terrorist and Lashkar-e-Taiba founding member Amir Hamza outside a television station in Lahore. He survived the attack.
The killing of Arjmand Gulzar has once again drawn attention to the growing number of targeted attacks on senior terror operatives based in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, particularly those accused of directing anti-India terror activities from across the border.
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