NEW DELHI: Intelligence agencies were trying to ascertain reports on the social media about the death of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, officials said on Sunday.
The officials said they had no information other than that Azhar was undergoing treatment at an army hospital after suffering renal failure.
A resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Azhar formed the Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2000.
The 50-year-old Azhar, who was released by the NDA government in 1999 in exchange of hostages of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814, has been accused of being the mastermind of the 2001 Parliament attack, suicide attack on Jammu and Kashmir state assembly, attack on Pathankot IAF base and the latest Pulwama terror strike.
The social media was filled with reports that Azhar had died, but there was no confirmation as of now, the officials said.
Jaish terror group’s Balakot camp, where training was imparted to recruits to carry out suicide attacks, was targeted by the IAF in an air strike last week, following the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. (AGENCIES)