A joint team of security forces Friday eliminated a Lashkar-e-Tayyeba terrorist involved in the killing of an army officer Umer Fayaz, a Kashmiri pandit,non-local labourers and recruiting a large number of local youth in the ranks of a terrorist outfit in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
Police identified the deceased terrorist as Bilal Ahmed Bhat son of Ghulam Rasool Bhat of Chek Cholan, Shopian.
The operation was conducted by the security forces after receiving information about the presence of terrorists in the Chotigam area of Shopian.
During the search operation, as the joint party approached the suspected spot, the hiding terrorist fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter.
In the ensuing encounter, 01 terrorist was killed and his body was retrieved from the encounter site. Security forces recovered arms & ammunition including 01 AK series rifle and 03 magazines from the site of the encounter.
As per police records the killed terrorist was involved in several terror crime cases including the killing of local army personnel namely Umer Fayaz son of Fayaz Ahmad Parray resident of Sudsan Kulgam.
Lt Umer Fayaz was abducted by a group of terrorists on May 9, 2017, from his relative’s house in south Kashmir’s Shopian. His bullet-riddled body was found in the Harmain area of Shopian on May 10.
According to police, Bilal, a category A terrorist, was involved in the killing of two non-local laborers in the Hermain area. His involvement also surfaced in the killing of a Kashmiri pandit namely Sunil Kumar Bhat son of G Bhat & injuring another Kashmiri pandit Pretimber Nath son of Arjun Nath Bhat, both residents of Chotigam Shopian. He was also involved in the attack on local Bal Krishan @Sonu resident of Chotigam.
According to police, he was active in the Pulwama and Shopian districts and played a pivotal role in instigating local youth to join terrorist ranks and induced 12 local youth into the ranks of pro-Pakistan terrorist outfits.
Besides other terror crimes, he was also involved in the killing of an arrested terrorist who was leading the search party during a CASO at Nowgam in the year 2022.
