‘JeM militants who killed policeman, his family in Awantipora identified’
By: Amjad Hussain
Srinagar: A top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and a foreigner were among two militants killed in an overnight encounter with government forces at Maloora area of Parimpora in the city outskirts, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at Police Control Room (PCR) here, IGP said the LeT commander whom he identified as Nadeem Abrar was arrested by a joint team of police, CRPF and army at Parimpora prior to his killing in an encounter at Maloora area.
The provincial police chief said the slain commander after being arrested was taken to the police station wherein he confessed having kept an AK-47 rifle in a house at Maloora.
He said Abrar after disclosure was taken to the site for recovery of weapon, however lost his life after a foreign militant hiding out-there opened fire upon the search party. IGP said a pistol was recovered from Abrar while two AK-47 rifles were recovered from the encounter site.
“During sustained interrogation, Abrar confessed having kept an AK-47 rifle in a house at Maloora following which CASO was launched in the area. The moment the search party entered into the house for recovery, a foreign militant hiding out-there opened fire in which Abrar suffered injuries and later succumbed,” added he.
IGP said the slain commander had not informed that a foreign militant was present in the house wherein he had kept his weapon, however both of them were neutralized during an overnight gun battle. He said an officer and a CRPF man also sustained injuries in the ensuing encounter.
Kumar said the slain LeT commander was also wanted in a shootout case at Lawaypora in which three CRPF personnel were killed in March this year. IGP said Abrar along with another militant Khursheed Mir who he said was killed in an encounter at Sopore carried out the attack.
Elaborating, IGP said the rifle Khursheed Mir had snatched from the slain CRPF personnel has also been recovered. He said the militant outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF) recently released a video depicting Khursheed killing CRPF men and then snatching their weapon at Lawaypora.
IGP termed the killing of LeT Commander and a foreign militant who is believed to be from Pakistan at Maloora as a major success for the government forces.
Replying to a query whether there are LeT militants active in Srinagar, IGP said one among the six youth from Srinagar having joined the outfit was killed while five others will be killed or arrested soon.
“A sleeper-cell network is also active in Srinagar and our efforts to come across this nexus are on,” added Kumar.
Regarding recent killing of a policeman, Fayaz Ahmad his wife and daughter at Awantipora in south Kashmir, IGP said militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) had carried the attack and the assailants have been identified and will be arrested or neutralized soon.
“Two militants of JeM outfit killed the policeman and his family at Awantipora, both stands identified, while one is a local, another is a foreigner,” he added.