Top Lashkar commander Nadeem Abrar shot down by J&K police in Srinagar encounter

Kashmir encounter: IGP Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar had said on Monday that LeT commander Nadeem Abrar was involved in "several killings" and that his arrest was a "big success" for the police forces.

A Pakistani terrorist and top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Nadeem Abrar, have both been shot down in an encounter with security forces on Tuesday morning, the Kashmir zone police informed, adding that the gunfight took place at Malhoora Parimpora in Srinagar. Several incriminating materials, including firearms and ammunition, have been recovered from the site, the cops said.

Jammu and Kashmir: Army soldiers outside the damaged house where the militants were trapped. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

"A Pakistani terrorist and top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abrar has been killed in the encounter with security forces at Malhoora Parimpora in Srinagar," IGP Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar confirmed in a tweet.

Abrar, who had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces and civilians in Kashmir, was arrested last evening in what the cops called a "big success". Later, when the militant was leading the security forces to his hideout at the Malhoora Parimpora area of Srinagar, an accomplice of his shot at the group, injuring three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The officials said a deputy superintendent of the CRPF and a constable of the paramilitary force were injured in the gunfight. This triggered an encounter between the security forces and the terrorists, near the end of which LeT commander Abrar was killed, the cops said.

IGP Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar had said on Monday that LeT commander Nadeem Abrar Bhat alias Khalid was involved in "several killings" and that his arrest was a "big success" for the police forces. Bhat was acting as the commander of Lashkar in central Kashmir and was active since 2018, the police added.

The LeT commander was earlier linked to the killing of former special police officer Fayaz Ahmed, his wife, and his daughter at their home in the Tral area of the Pulwama district. IGP Kumar, who visited Ahmed's bereaved family, had previously said the unidentified terrorists involved in the attack could have belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The J&K police said that LeT commander Nadeem Abrar Bhat was also involved in the attack on CRPF at Lawaypora in March. In the attack, three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed and the rifle was also snatched by the terrorists. The rifle was recovered from the possession of a terrorist earlier this month after three terrorists were killed during an encounter in Sopore.