1. Home
  2. India
  3. Kashmiri footballer, who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba, surrenders after mother pleads for return

Kashmiri footballer, who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba, surrenders after mother pleads for return

Majid Khan's mother had earlier posted a video, praying for his return, after a photograph of Khan with an assault rifle had surfaced.

Terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba’s fresh recruit Majid Khan has surrendered in Kashmir. Khan had joined the terror group last week when a close friend of his was killed in an encounter. It was later that a photograph of Khan, holding an assault rifle, had surfaced, pointing to his recruitment in LeT.

Khan’s surrender comes after a video of his mother, Ashiya Begum, went viral on social media. In the video, his mother asked him to quit militancy and called for his safe return home. “I am waiting for him. I want him to return… I want him to play football again,” she said in the video.

A J&K police officer confirmed the news on Twitter:

Khan played on the local football team as a goalkeeper in Anantnag, and was recruited after a friend’s killing in an encounter. According to sources, the terror group “sensed public mood and let go of Majid so he could serve his family”. On Thursday, November 16, night, Khan surrendered himself at a security camp.

Majid’s father, Irshad Ahmad Khan (59), had had a mild heart attack on Tuesday once he received word that Khan was trapped in Kulgam in an encounter. In the encounter, three terrorists were arrested and one was killed. Irshad on Thursday had said, “I’m sure he will come back if he hears this message. He is not just my son, but a friend also.. I have brought him up like that. I don’t understand why he did his.”

Following his return, Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted:

Twitter flooded with heartfelt messages after Majid’s return:

Trending
photos
×Close
×Close