Lashkar militant held with weapon in south Kashmir’s Shopian

A police spokesperson said a search operation was launched after the security forces came to know about the militant’s presence in the Astanpora village.

A newly recruited militant of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was arrested by security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, police said on Friday.

Representational photo

The arrested militant, identified as Zubair Hassain Khan alias Ameer, was arrested during a cordon-and-search operation by security forces and the police at Astanpora village in Shopian during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

A police spokesperson said the operation was launched after the security forces came to know about the militant’s presence in the village.

“A pistol and 12 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the militant’s possession,” the spokesperson said adding that a case has been registered against him.

In separate operations since Monday, 14 terrorists, most of them local militants, were killed in Shopian district in three different encounters. Police said the militants also killed a civilian in Pinjoora village.