In a successful operation conducted jointly by the Jammu and Kashmir police and security forces, a top militant of Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed at a village in Shopian district, 50 km south of Srinagar.
The slain militant has been identified as Abbas Rishi, a local who had joined the LeT ranks. Sources, however, said his accomplice managed to give police a slip. The second militant has been identified as Omar.
While the encounter is over, a search operation is still on at Hassanpora village in south Kashmir. "We are trying to neutralise the militant who has escaped as we had information about presence of two militants. The search operation is on and we are on the job," said superintendent in-charge of Shopian, Mohammad Mumtaz.
According to police, Rishi was a wanted LeT militant, who was active in the area for the past two years. "A dreaded militant, he was the area commander of LeT for Shopian and was wanted in many cases occurred in the past two years," Mumtaz added.
According to police spokesman, the operation was undertaken following a tip-off about the presence of two LeT militants in a hideout at Imamsahib in Hassanpora village.
{{/usCountry}}According to police spokesman, the operation was undertaken following a tip-off about the presence of two LeT militants in a hideout at Imamsahib in Hassanpora village.
{{/usCountry}}The operation is being jointly conducted by the state police, 62 Rashtriya Rifles of army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
A civilian has also been injured in the encounter. According to police, he was immediately rushed to SMHS hospital for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.
LeT is a banned militant organisation, which is dominated by foreign militants. Lately, many locals have joined the organisation.