Terrorist Zakir Musa has been named chief of Al Qaeda-linked group Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind.
Zakir Musa, a prominent terrorist in Kashmir, has been named the chief of a new Al Qaeda-linked group in India, a move described by the police in Jammu and Kashmir as an "ideological shift".
The 23-year-old college dropout was named leader of the "Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind" group by a propaganda organisation linked to Al-Qaeda. The announcement of Wednesday marks the first time the international terror group has pushed so far into Kashmir.
The statement, published by US monitor SITE Intelligence Group, said "the jihad in Kashmir had entered a stage of awakening" and that the new movement would "liberate our homeland".
Al-Qaeda established an Indian chapter in September 2014, but it has not garnered any support.
Jammu and Kashmir police chief SP Vaid described the announcement of a new Qaeda-linked terror outfit as an "ideological shift".
"Earlier, people were fighting for something different," Mr Vaid told news agency AFP on Thursday.
"For us, whoever picks up a gun is a terrorist. Musa is a terrorist. Organisation doesn't matter. We'll see, we'll face it," he added.
Musa, who never completed his engineering degree in Chandigarh, is a controversial figure in Kashmir. His father is an engineer with Jammu and Kashmir government and his brother is a doctor in Tral, about 30 km from Srinagar.
Musa became a terrorist during Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's recruitment drive in 2013-14. He was understood to have succeeded Burhan Wani after he was shot dead by security forces last year.
Burhan Wani's killing sparked violent protests in the Kashmir Valley and left nearly 100 dead and thousands injured.
But Musa fell out with the terror group, the largest in Kashmir, over ideological differences.
In an audio message circulated on social media, Musa had recently threatened to behead separatists and hang their heads in Srinagar, accusing them of using Kashmir for political gains.
Separatist groups have repeatedly claimed that Al-Qaeda and ISIS have no role in Kashmir.
(With inputs from AFP)