Lashkar ‘commander’ killed in encounter in J-K’s Shopian

Security forces had launched the search operation in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area, which comprises seven villages, in the south Kashmir district on July 3.

A self-styled Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was killed on Wednesday in an anti-terror operation by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district, police said.

Security personnel at the site as the body of a terrorist recovered following an encounter with security forces, in Shopian on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

Security forces had launched the search operation in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area, which comprises seven villages, in the south Kashmir district on July 3.

“You Can Run But You Can’t Hide! One Lashkar terrorist neutralised by SOG Shopian, in a Jt Op, along with RR and CRPF,” the J-K Police said in a post on X.

A senior police official identified the slain terrorist as Zakir Ahmad Ganie, a self-styled commander of the proscribed LeT outfit.

Ganie (26), a resident of Motalhama area of the neighbouring Kulgam district, had on September 27, 2023, left his residence for Dialgam to undertake shuttering work but failed to return home, the officials said.

They said after an unsuccessful search by his family members, a missing report was lodged at Kulgam police station on October 3, 2023.

Ganie subsequently joined The Resistance Front (TRF) terror outfit, an offshoot of the LeT, the officials said.

Security forces had first spotted two terrorists by surveillance cameras on July 3 in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area, officials said.

A joint team of police, Army’s 55 RR and 44 RR, and CRPF had maintained a tight cordon around the area over the last five days with intermittent exchanged of firing taking place between the two sides, they said.

The army’s specialised counter-insurgency unit, Victor Force, has deployed additional personnel to seal all possible escape routes through the thick orchard foliage, besides lighting up the area.

Apart from Ganie, the other trapped terrorist was believed to be Latif, who joined the outfit last year.

Terrorist hideout busted in Kathua, two grenades seized

Jammu Security forces busted a terrorist hideout in Kathua district on Wednesday and recovered two hand grenades, officials said.

The hideout was unearthed in the upper reaches of Billawar on the disclosure of an overground worker, Haji Latief, they said.

Latief, a resident of Rabagh who was arrested on July 2, is facing charges of facilitating infiltration of over a dozen terrorists from across the border over the years and is being jointly interrogated by police and other security agencies, the officials said.

On his questioning, it was revealed that he had remained in constant touch with terror handlers across the border, they said.

Meanwhile, the border security forces on Wednesday picked up a suspicious person from the border village of Bobiya in the Hiranagar sector.

The man, who identified himself as Prem (45), was handed over to the police for questioning, the officials said.

(With inputs from Agencies)