Day after arrest, LeT commander killed in encounter: J&K police

Two CRPF officers among three injured in gunfight on the outskirts of Srinagar

Zulfikar Majid , DHNS, Srinagar,

Jun 29 2021, 09:10 ist
updated: Jun 29 2021, 11:31 ist

Security personnel during the ongoing encounter with militants, at Maloora on the outskirts of Srinagar. Credit: PTI Photo

A commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was among two militants killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Maloora area on the outskirts of Srinagar on Tuesday.

Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including two officers, were also injured in the gunfight, which erupted on Monday evening after a joint team of police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation in Maloora.

A police spokesperson said they had a ‘specific input’ that the militants were planning to carry out an attack on the highway. “Keeping in view the seriousness of the input, a few joint nakas of JKP & CRPF were placed along the highway,” he said and added that at one of the nakas, LeT commander Abrar was arrested.

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“On sustained interrogation, he (Abrar) disclosed that he had kept his AK-47 rifle in a house located at Maloora. Thereafter, he was taken to that house to recover the weapon after laying proper cordon of the suspected house,” the spokesman said.

The security forces’ party came under fire as they entered the house from Abrar's accomplice, a Pakistani militant, who was hiding there.

In the initial firefight, he said three CRPF personnel, including an assistant commandant and a sub-inspector, got injured and LeT commander Abrar, accompanying the search party, got hit. “In the ensuing gunfight, both the foreign terrorist and Abrar were killed. Two AK-47 rifles along with ammunition were recovered from the site,” said the spokesman.

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Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of police (IGP), Kashmir, said Abrar alias Khalid was involved in several murders and that his killing was a big success. He was acting as the commander of Lashkar in central Kashmir and was active since 2018.

According to the police , Abrar was also involved in several attacks on security forces and civilians, including on CRPF at Lawaypora in March. In the attack, three CRPF personnel were killed and the rifle was also snatched by the militants.