Naveed Jatt: An escape artist who was most sought after
past nine months, several teams of police, army and intelligence were pursuing leads to track down one of the most wanted militant commanders operating in South Kashmir, Naveed Jatt, who escaped police custody on February 9.
Police teams came close to him several times, but his expertise in escaping always came into play before he was finally trapped in a house at Budgam along with his unidentified associate.
In his late 20s, Jatt was the most sought after commander of Lashkar and was in touch with top Hizb commanders. According to police, Naveed Jatt was the prime accused in the killing of senior journalist Shujhaat Bukhari along with two other militants, one of whom was killed last week in an encounter in south Kashmir.
A police spokesperson said that two militants were killed in the encounter in Chattergam. “One of the militants has been identified as Naveed Jatt alias Hanzulla,” the spokesperson said, adding that he was a part of terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s group at a Madrassa in Pakistan where he had undergone arms training.
State’s director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said Jatt was one of the prime accused in the killing of Bukhari. “If we would have caught him alive, we could have gathered a lot of information about other accused in Bukhari’s killing.”
He said that more than two dozen militants have been killed in south Kashmir in the recent days. Singh said they will try to hand over the body of Jatt to Pakistan through competent authorities. He said the other militant who was killed in the operation has not been identified yet.