Mission Hair-Possible: Lashkar Terrorist Pauses Sleeper Cell Op to Get a Hair Transplant in Srinagar

Hair loss can shake anyone’s confidence, apparently even a terrorist, sent on an infiltration mission.

In one of the more bizarre revelations to emerge from a terror investigation, a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative allegedly pressed pause on his mission in Jammu and Kashmir not to evade security forces, but to get a hair transplant in Srinagar.

According to a media report, Mohammed Usman Jatt, alias “Chinese”, a resident of Lahore and a trained operative of the banned terror outfit, reportedly told interrogators that severe hair loss had troubled him for years and badly affected his self-esteem.

Officials said Jatt believed hair restoration procedures were expensive treatments available only in Western countries. During his stay in Srinagar, however, he came across a local shop owner who had undergone a successful hair transplant himself. The encounter appears to have left a deep impression on the infiltrator.

According to investigators, Jatt repeatedly visited the shop owner after learning about the procedure and eventually persuaded him to help arrange treatment. He was later taken to a clinic in Srinagar, where he underwent the hair transplant process and at times stayed overnight during treatment, officials said.

The case is currently being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

During interrogation, Jatt also reportedly admitted that life in Kashmir felt very different from what he had been told during terror training across the border. Officials said he described the reality on the ground as contrary to the picture painted inside Lashkar training camps.

A resident of Lahore, Jatt had infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir through the northern part of the Valley with instructions to carry out attacks and assist terror operations, investigators said. He was allegedly involved in terror activities across north and central Kashmir and had links with Pakistani terrorists Zargam and Abdullah alias Abu Hureira, one of the longest-surviving LeT operatives in the Valley.

After completing the procedure, Jatt allegedly travelled to Jammu in a passenger vehicle before boarding a sleeper bus to Punjab and eventually reaching Malerkotla.

Officials further claimed that during his stay outside Kashmir, the terrorist spent time watching Turkish television shows and trying to learn English. He also allegedly revealed plans to obtain genuine Indian identity documents, including an Aadhaar card, PAN card and passport, with the intention of escaping India like another infiltrator, Umar alias “Khargosh”, who investigators say fled abroad using forged papers.

Information provided during Jatt’s interrogation also helped Srinagar Police uncover a wider network of Over Ground Workers (OGWs) allegedly assisting LeT operatives in Kashmir.

The case was later handed over to the NIA because of its national and international ramifications.

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