The self-styled chief commander of The Resistance Front (TRF), an affiliate of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit, was killed along with his accomplice in a brief shootout with J&K police in Alouchibagh area of Srinagar on Monday evening.
"Top commander of #proscribed #terror outfit LeT/TRF Abbas Sheikh & his 2IC Saqib Manzoor killed. A big #success," a police spokesman while quoting IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, tweeted.
Sheikh and Manzoor had figured in police's recent hit list of top 10 militants operating in the valley.
Sources said the police had pinpointed the location of the militants as the duo were playing cricket with local boys in a congested Alouchibagh area.
"The police didn't give the militants any chance to open fire and neutralised them before they could understand the situation," they revealed.
Sheikh, in his late 40s, was one of the oldest surviving militants’ active in Kashmir. He was a recycled militant and was affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen before switching loyalties to the newly formed TRF.
His sister Naseema Banoo was arrested by the police last year in June from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Several members of Sheikh’s family, including his two brothers and nephews have been killed over the past 25 years. They had all joined militancy at one point of time.
Manzoor, who had made it to the top ten most wanted militants list had joined the militant ranks recently and is believed to have been involved in the killing of two policemen in uptown Baghat area of Srinagar in February this year.