Srinagar: Border Security Force (BSF) on September 1 played a radio intercept where Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM) has admitted that its chief commander in Kashmir valley Gazi Baba has been killed and threatened to avenge his killing by launching strikes at security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking in fluent Urdu in the radio broadcast, played before media persons by BSF Director General Ajai Raj Sharma, the orator said, "The beat of our hearts, the crown of our heads, our beloved commander Gazi Baba and his deputy have left (for heavenly abode)...May God accept their sacrifice."

The speaker asked the JeM cadres not to be demoralised by the loss of Gazi Baba and asked them to "inflict sorrow and grief on those who are happy on his killing".

Sharma, who was in Srinagar to visit the jawans and officers injured in the encounter on August 30, said this should put to rest the controversy surrounding the identity of the slain militant.

Describing the killing of Gazi Baba as one of the biggest achievements of BSF, Sharma said the slain militant's wife had given a statement identifying his body.

"We have done careful cross-checks on his identity and only then we came to conclude that it was him. But if anybody has any evidence contrary to it, we have an open mind on it," he said.

Among other things that have been helpful in proving the identity of Gazi Baba were the prominent mark on his eyebrow, eye-tests, the dental structure and the testimony of a BSF source who had seen the militant during his lifetime, Sharma said.

PTI