Srinagar: Amid a spate of civilian killings across Jammu & Kashmir, the police on Sunday said they have killed four of the 10 most wanted terrorists, on the “target” or “hit list” of security agencies.
On August 2 this year, the J&K Police released a list of top 10 terrorists that it aimed to target. The list, posted on Twitter by the Kashmir Zone Police, included the names of seven terrorists who have been active for some time and three new recruits. “Top 10 #targets: #Old #terrorists- Salim Parray, Yousuf Kantroo, Abbas Sheikh, Reyaz Shetergund, Farooq Nali, Zubair Wani & Ashraf Molvi. #New #terrorists- Saqib Manzoor, Umer Mustaq Khandey & Wakeel Shah,” said the tweet.
“Of these 10 terrorists, four have been killed in different operations,” Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said on Sunday.
The development comes amid the killing of 11 civilians in targeted attacks in Kashmir, including five hailing from other states. A total of 32 civilians have been shot dead in Kashmir so far this year.
Nine soldiers have been killed in counterterror operations that began on October 11, the highest casualty the army has suffered in a week in the region in recent years. At least 13 terrorists, including a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, have been shot dead by security forces in October.
{{/usCountry}}Nine soldiers have been killed in counterterror operations that began on October 11, the highest casualty the army has suffered in a week in the region in recent years. At least 13 terrorists, including a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, have been shot dead by security forces in October.
{{/usCountry}}According to the police, the four killed include Abbas Sheikh of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) backed The Resistance Front (TRF); top LeT commanders Umer Mustaq Khandey and Saqib Manzoor, and Jaish commander Wakeel Shah.
Police said Sheikh and Manzoor were top LeT commanders and were also responsible for carrying out numerous attacks on civilians, lawmakers and security personnel. Sheikh, who is also the chief of the TRF, along with his associate Saqid were killed in an encounter in the Aloochi Bagh area of Srinagar on August 23 this year. Shah, too, was killed in August in connection with the murder of BJP leader Rakesh Pandita in Tral.
Khandey, police said, was involved in the killing of two police constables and was killed in an encounter in Pulwama on October 16.
In March, too, the police had released a similar list of wanted terrorists and announced rewards for those who will provide information about them.
“The other commanders or top terrorists, who are still at large, are Saleem Parray (LeT), who has been accused of several civilian killings in Hajin; Yousuf Kantroo alias Issah (LeT), accused of perpetrating several attacks in Budgam and Srinagar districts and has been dubbed as the A+++ category terrorist; Hizbul Mujahideen commander Farooq Bhat alias Farooq Nali, an A++ category terrorist; and another Hizb commander Mohammad Ashraf Khan or Ashraf Molvi, among others,” said IGP Kumar.