New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday gunned down a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant who was responsible for attacking a Sopore fruit trader's family last week in which a girl child had also been injured.
Asif Maqbool Bhat was killed in a brief shootout with the police in Sopore around 9 a.m.
"When we intercepted Bhat today (Wednesday), he attacked us. He threw a grenade at us. A few police personnel were injured but they are out of danger. In the ensuing encounter, the militant had been neutralised," Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said in a press briefing.
Singh said Bhat is the same militant who had gone to the house of Hazi Hamidullah Rather, a prominent fruit grower of the Sopore apple mandi and a resident of Dangerpora area.
"The Militant fired at the family members of Hamidullah injuring four of them including a girl aged between four and seven years. The girl is admitted here in a hospital. Others were also evacuated to that place."
Bhat is the same militant who along with his associates went to somebody's house that day where a migrant labour, identified as Shafi Alam, was working, the DGP said, adding he shot at the labour.
"The injured boy has been brought to a Srinager hospital. I am told that his condition is fine and he is likely to be discharge any moment."
The DGP said that Bhat was very active in Sopore area.
"With the killing of of Bhat, I believe that the area will heave a sigh of relief. The terror which he was creating there would be taken care of to some extent. We also know his other two associates and we are after them. We will see it in the near future. We will take care of them."
On September 8, Bhat and his associates barged into the house of apple trader Rather. They shot at his daughter Asma and also attacked the migrant labourer from Bihar, Shafi Alam, who had sustained gunshot wounds on his shoulder and neck.
On September 9, Jammu and Kashmir Police along with the Army and other security forces including the Central Reserve Police Force had arrested eight militants from the Sopore region after busting a terror module of the LeT.
Javaid Iqbal, SSP of Sopore district, said the men had hatched a conspiracy to print posters threatening locals from venturing out of their homes, either for trade, travel, schools or offices. They used to distribute these posters for circulation in local villages.
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