Slain LeT Commander participated in army sponsored cricket tournaments before joining militancy

Srinagar: Waseem Ahmed Shah-the Lashkar-e-Taiba District Commander for South Kashmir’s Shopian district who along with his Scholar associate was killed in a gun fight at Littar village on Saturday morning was a talented cricketer popularly known as Wasim Akram among his friend circle for his bowling action that matched yesteryears Pakistan speed star.
“His bowling action perfectly matched Wasim Akram. He was our front line left arm bowler and always a wicket taker,” his team mates recalled during a colloquy with a reporter.
They revealed before joining militancy in 2014, Waseem used to run his own shop. “Shah, 23, also known as ‘Abu Osama Bhai’ was neither a stone pelter nor he showed any interest any militancy. Cricket was his only passion and in fact he participated in different cricket tournaments that were organized and sponsored by Indian Army,” they said. “Waseem also participated in inter-district cricket tournaments.”
A college dropout, Waseem Shah, a resident of Heff-Shrimal in Shopian, joined militancy in 2014 while his friends and family claim that choose the path to avoid continuous harassment from police. “He belonged to a well-off family while his father was an orchardist, earning good money,” they said.
Shortly after joining militancy, according to police Waseem became the ‘don of Heff’ and carried out multiple attacks on Government Forces.