Militant ranks in the Kashmir valley are abuzz with chatter about a serious rift between Zakir Musa and the current leadership of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Radio and mobile chatter intercepted by India's intelligence agencies reflect a high level of distrust between former Hizbul commander Zakir Musa and the terror outfit he had led till recently.

In the aftermath of the encounter killing of Burhan Wani's successor Sabzar Bhatt, Indian agencies have recorded multiple conversations where Hizbul Mujahideen cadre can be heard discussing whether Zakir Musa betrayed Sabzar Bhatt.

Hizbul commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhatt was a coward in death: Indian Army

Hizbul terrorists seem to suspect that a personal messenger close to Musa tipped off the Jammu and Kashmir police about the location of Sabzar's hideout. Sabzar was killed last week in an encounter very close to his hometown of Tral.

While agencies are not confirming whether they were indeed tipped off by Musa's men, this new development could set off a fratricidal war among Kashmiri terrorists.

Zakir Musa had delivered a much talked about audio address on May 10 in which he declared war on Hurriyat separatists and advocated the beheading of Hurriyat leaders at Lal Chowk. It was in the same address that he announced his allegiance to a pan-Islamic Caliphate and broke away from the ranks of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

This development has rattled Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin and his bosses in the Pakistan Army who run the United Jehad Council (UJC). Inputs received by intelligence agencies suggest the UJC now wants Musa dead at the earliest possible and wants no effort to be spared to achieve this goal.

Clearly, the ISI does not want control of the terrorist leadership to slip from its control and into the hands of terrorists who are affiliated to a pan-Islamic Caliphate.

It was after Musa broke away that Sabzar Bhatt was appointed as the new commander of Hizb cadre in the valley. His death last week is a blow to the damage containment strategy that Hizbul bosses in Pakistan had drawn up.

Hizbul bosses have now appointed tech savvy 29-year-old terrorist Riyaz Naikoo as Sabzar's replacement. Naikoo is seen as being relatively moderate and has been chosen with the hope that he can stop the Hizbul cadre from being attracted to the hardline Islamic ideology of the ISIS. Given that he is tech savvy, his bosses in Pakistan hope that like Burhan he too will be able to attract youngsters to the terror fold.

Post that Sabzar Bhatt had been appointed the Hizbul Chief in the Valley by its protectors and providers in Pakistan.