Who was Saifullah Khalid, LeT’s elusive shadow commander killed in Pak
Abu Saifullah Khalid, also known as Razaullah Nizamani Khalid, a key Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and the mastermind behind the 2006 RSS headquarters attack and multiple terror strikes, including one on a CRPF camp in Uttar Pradesh, was shot dead in Pakistan’s Sindh province on Sunday. Three unidentified gunmen opened fire on him as he left his residence in the Matli area.
Operating under several aliases, including Razaullah, Vinode Kumar, and Mohammed Salim, Khalid had a long history of involvement in terror activities targeting India.
From the mid-2000s, he is believed to have led Lashkar operations from Nepal, overseeing recruitment, finances, logistics, and the movement of operatives across the Indo-Nepal border. He worked closely with the terror outfit’s so-called “launching commanders,” Azam Cheema alias Babaji, and Yaqoob, the group’s chief accountant.
Khalid was the chief architect of the 2006 attack on the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, where all three terrorists involved were killed. He was also linked to the 2005 terror attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, which resulted in the death of Professor Munish Chandra Puri and injuries to four others. The assailants in that case managed to escape. Abu Anas, a close associate of Khalid, was later chargesheeted but remains absconding.
Khalid also masterminded the 2008 attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, which killed seven security personnel and a civilian. The attackers in that case too evaded capture.
Following the busting of Lashkar’s Nepal module by Indian agencies, Khalid relocated to Pakistan, where he continued to coordinate with top LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) leaders, including Yusuf Muzammil (Lashkar’s J&K commander), Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi, and Muhammad Yusuf Taibi.
In recent years, he had been assigned to recruit operatives and raise funds for Lashkar in the Badin and Hyderabad districts of Sindh. He was reportedly residing in Badin with his Nepali wife, Nagmabanu.
Security agencies said Khalid had been instructed by his handlers to restrict his movements and had been provided with personal security after Operation Sindoor. Despite this, he was ambushed and fatally shot by three assailants on Sunday afternoon.
TERRORISTS ATTEND KHALID’S FUNERAL PRAYERS
The funeral prayers of Khalid were held in Badin, Sindh, on Sunday. Several Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were seen attending the ceremony, similar to the funerals of other terrorists killed in India’s Operation Sindoor strikes.
Khalid’s body was wrapped in the Pakistani flag, and terrorists, among others, paid their respects. Individuals holding rifles were also seen in the pictures from the funeral.
Prior to Saifullah’s killing, India’s most wanted terrorist, Abu Qatal, known to be a close associate of Hafiz Saeed, was gunned down by an unidentified assailant in Pakistan on March 16. Qatal was responsible for several major attacks on the Indian Army in Kashmir.
