Abu Tallah, a top commander of the outfit, was also killed during the encounter at Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said. One AK 56 rifle, two magazines, 28 rounds and one cellphone were recovered from Tallah’s possession, the police added.
“We have specific information that Tallah and his associates were planning a fidayeen attack on the Raj Bhavan and MLA hostel,” Inspector General of Police SP Vaid said. Acting on a tip-off, police and the Army launched a joint operation and killed the militant after an hour-long gunbattle on Wednesday, he added.
“At around 11 pm on Tuesday, the Army and police cordoned off the house of Nazir Gujjar, where Tallah was suspected to be hiding. However, he had already fled from the spot. We managed to catch hold of locally trained LeT militant Naseer Ahmed alias Raju, who had come to Kathua to plan the attacks. Gujjar was also arrested,” the police said.
It was on the disclosure of one Sahu Din of Gurdaspur that the intelligence agencies had gathered information about the presence of Abu Tallah in Kathua. Earlier, Sahu Din was arrested after he met Naseer Ahmed for a meeting with Tallah.
“Dy SP Shelly Singh and a police constable, Anil Kumar, were also injured in the gunbattle,” Kathua SSP JP Singh said. Vaid said that Tallah was also one of the main suspects for killing 32 Hindus in Kulhand and Basantagrh areas of Doda and Udhampur last year.
 |
 |
 |
