Zakir Musa gang wiped out: Police

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir Police and army troops have killed the chief commander of Ansar Gazwatul Hind, an al-qaida affiliate, and two of his associates in a gunbattle in south Kashmir’s Awantipore area, scoring a major success in the fight against militancy, the police said.

Identified as Hamid Lelhari, the militant commander took over reins of the group after the killing of Zakir Musa on May 23, the police said.

Lelhari, who was carrying a reward on his head, and the two associates were hiding in a house in Rajpora village when the police and army troops launched a joint operation in the area on Tuesday evening, acting on specific information about their presence.

The encounter ended Tuesday night. The other two militants killed in the encounter were identified as Junaid Rashid and Naveed.

Lelhari, according to the police, had been active in south Kashmir since 2016. After the killing of the three militants, Jammu & Kashmir officials claimed that Ansar Gazwatul Hind had been left with no active militants in the Valley.

Director general of police Dilbag Singh said that initially one of the militants was thought to be a local and two were suspected to be foreigners. “Late last night, the slain militants were identified as locals. They all were affiliated with Ansar Gazawatul Hind,”

Singh said. Singh said a large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from these militants which included three AK 47 rifles.

After Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces, command of the group was handed to Lelhari, Singh said. “He (Lelhari) motivated many people to join this group and got two more militants motivated in joining the group. All three militants belonged to Awantiporepulwama belt and were working in coordination with Jaish nowadays.”

“For the time being, this group has been wiped out,” he said.

DGP Singh said that Lelhari became active in the militant ranks in 2016 and had been involved in many terror activities, including attacks on security forces. “He was also involved in an attack at Kakapora and in the killing of civilian Fayaz Ahmad.”