NEW DELHI: Indian intelligence agencies have been informed that Umar Khalifa, commander of Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir, has announced his exit from the outfit and pledged allegiance to Islamic State.In audio and text message posted on Telegram channels, Khalifa aka Ishfaq Ahmed Sofi also denounced the ISI calling them as Murtad (apostate). He has accused the ISI of threatening his family and demanding ransom for his exit.While the development is being seen as a setback to Pakistan and ISI, it is also expected to have significant impact on the war against jihad in Kashmir as it could further bolster the presence of IS in the valley, sources said.HUM was founded by a former Osama Bin Laden aide, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil , and Maulana Masood Azhar in late nineties.Khalifa belongs to Sopore in Baramulla area of Kashmir. Khalifa and his aide Sameer had thrown a grenade at the 82 CRPF battalion in Srinagar in November 2015 and injured 13 soldiers, ahead of prime minister Narendra Modi ’s visit.He and four others (see pic) had been arrested in 2016 while trying to resurrect the group which had been wiped out from the valley in 2012. At that time, Khalifa's handler was identified as Sajjad Shaheen aka Ahmad Afghani, an Afghan war veteran who had been handling the outfits operation in Pakistan.In the message released through its Telegram channels, Khalifa says, "Alhamdulillha.. I am ishfaq ahmed Sofi aka Umar Khalifa, son of mushtaq ahmed .. resident of Sopore Kashmir.. I am fortunate enough that after proper research and my thirst to seek the truth I made barra (disassociation ) from all the organizations specially the militant organistaions of Kashmir and rest of the world. I am fortunate enough to become one of the soldiers of Islamic state.""Today I publicly announce my disassociation from the Harkatul Mujahideen, organization run by Murtad ISI and establishment of taghoot of democratic Pakistan. I publicly announce that Sheikh Abu bakr Al Baghdadi. Al qureshi is my commander and khalif," he further says.He also warns that ISI and others are threatening him and his family and demanding ransom but he is not worried."I am sure the organization and salves of Pakistani ISI will threaten your families and relatives, just like the people from Hizb tried to threaten the family of Firdous bhai ( May Allah accept ). These days the group Harkatul mujahideen is not only threating my family but also demanding ransom from them. This is nothing but their show of character which inshaallah will be revealed in front of everyone.""In this moment I would like to invite all of those young men who really want to establish the Shariah of Allah on this land that they follow the path of Emir Eisa , Khattab bhai and Burhan Musaib Bhai ( May Allah accept all of them as shaheed )."