The banned Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit is responsible for the abduction and killing of Army soldier Sameer Ahmad Malla, whose body was found in an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district last week, police said.
The last call made by Malla, a Territorial Army jawan attached with Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, to his mother was also done when he was being held in captivity by the Lashker-e-Taiba led by Yusuf Kantoo.
Kantoo, one of the oldest surviving terrorists, was described by Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar as "the mastermind behind the killing of the Army jawan".
According to police, the probe narrowed on a local villager Ather Illahi Sheikh who had called Malla for a meeting. It turned out that Sheikh was working for the banned terror outfit.
Malla upon reaching the meeting point with Sheikh saw three other terrorists including Kantoo.
"During questioning, he (Sheikh) confessed that on March 6, three terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT came to his house and stayed there for the night.
"The next day pursuant to a well-knit conspiracy Army jawan Sameer Ahmad Malla was called by the said terrorist associate Ather Illahi to his residence where from he was kidnapped by all the four and thereafter, taken to the spot where from the dead body was ultimately retrieved," police said in a statement.
After killing Malla, Sheikh got a shovel from his house which was used to bury the body. The shovel was also recovered by the investigating team.
Malla, who was on leave, had gone missing from his home in Khag area of Budgam on March 7 and his body was recovered on March 10.
The army jawan was the person who accompanied Major Leetul Gogoi, who shot to fame by tying a local villager to a jeep ostensibly to prevent stone pelting in 2018, to a local hotel along with a girl in Srinagar.
Malla was held guilty in 2019 by a court martial along with his company commander Major Gogoi for "fraternising" with a local woman and "being away from the place of duty while in operational area".