TOBA TEK SINGH, Aug 30: The deputy commander of an outlawed ‘jehadi’ organisation died in a Lahore hospital after a protracted illness on Saturday afternoon.

Harkatul Insar’s deputy commander Qari Muhammad Ashraf, who originally belonged to Arifwala, was shifted to Kamalia where he tied the knot and subsequently formed a seminary with the help of his in-laws at Kamalia.He made his name in the like-minded circles and had been to Afghanistan under the banner of Harkatul Jehad Islami Al-Alami to ‘wage a war’ against Russia. He also claimed having moved to Kashmir to fight India and Israel in Palestine.

He stepped into the world of ‘religious extremism’ after joining the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, now banned, and also had relations with top leadership of other such organisations. Among many cases of militancy, he was alleged to have been involved in a Chichawatni blast and a double murder in Sargodha.

The last time he visited Kamalia was two months ago when he addressed a press conference but with a changed name of Maulana Mahmood Ashraf.

It was he who trained in Afghanistan a youth of Kamalia – the late Amjad Farooqi – who was shot dead in an encounter with police at Hyderabad (Sindh). Amjad was charged with murdering known American journalist Daniel Pearl and also attempting murder of Pervez Musharraf, the then president.

During his stay in Afghanistan, Qari Ashraf was severely injured and after first aid was shifted to Pakistan where he remained under treatment in hospital.

A source disclosed that the Qari was under treatment at the Services Hospital, where he had changed his name. His body will be taken to Arifwala for burial.