In a major success, the most wanted local militant commander was among two ultras killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday, police said.
Basit Ahmed Dar, a resident of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, was the top commander of “The Resistance Front” (TRF), an organisation believed to be a shadow outfit of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba.
In July last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakhs on Dar.
According to police, Dar was responsible for the several civilian and security men killings in the Valley in the last three years.
“Basit Dar was associated with TRF and was an “A” category terrorist. It ( Dar’s killing) is a significant achievement for us . The reason being that he was very much involved in more than 18 cases in Srinagar city including killing of police persons and innocent civilians. He was also involved in the planning and carrying out attacks on minorities, civilians and security forces,” Inspector general of Police Kashmir V K Birdi told reporters in Kulgam.
Giving details about the operation, police said the two militants were killed in an encounter in the Redwani Payeen village of Kulgam.
The gun battle erupted on Monday night at Redwani Payeen after joint security forces launched an operation in the area following an input about militant presence.
“As the joint team of security forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired indiscriminately upon them, which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter,” a security official said, adding that additional forces were rushed to the area to ensure a tight cordon.
“Due to darkness, the operation was kept on hold till early Tuesday morning. With the first light, the operation was resumed and it resulted in the elimination of two terrorists,” he added.
The IGP said that the two militants were given an opportunity to surrender.
“However, they did not heed to the calls and opened fire on the joint forces,” the IGP said.
The killing of top TRF commander comes at a time when Kashmir is in the middle of its ongoing Lok Sabha election. The first Lok Sabha seat in Kashmir going to polls is Srinagar.
Srinagar parliamentary constituency will go to polls on May 13, while Baramulla north Kashmir and Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency will go to polls on May 20 and 25 respectively.
