LeT commander killed in J&K
Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of gunning down Burhan Wani, the poster boy of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist outfit, a joint team of the security forces on Wednesday tracked down a top-ranking commander of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) before neutralising him in the Chhanapora area of Shopian district.
The anti-terrorist operation was launched in the area on Saturday by the joint team of the Rashtriya Rifles unit, Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force soon after the suspected movement of two local terrorists of LeT came on the radar of the CCTV surveillance system in the area. The first contact with the LeT terrorists was established during a cordon and search operation in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area. The security forces exercised utmost restraint while maintaining the tight cordon in the nearby villages.
Early Wednesday morning, the security forces tracked down the hiding LeT terrorist and neutralised him while searches were going on to track down his accomplice. The Army’s specialised counter-insurgency unit, Victor Force, had deployed additional personnel to seal all possible escape routes through the thick orchard foliage, besides lighting up the area.
“You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide! One Lashkar terrorist neutralised by SOG Shopian, in a Jt Op, along with RR and CRPF,” the Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a post on X.
The slain terrorist has been identified by the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps as Zakir Ahmad Ganie, a self-styled commander of the proscribed LeT outfit. Ganie (26), a resident of Motalhama area of the neighbouring Kulgam district, had on September 27, 2023, left his residence for Dialgam to undertake shuttering work but failed to return home, the officials said. They said after an unsuccessful search by his family members, a missing report was lodged at the Kulgam police station on October 3, 2023.
Officials claim, Ganie subsequently joined the Resistance Front (TRF) terror outfit, an offshoot of the LeT. They said he has been implicated in an FIR registered at the Kulgam police station under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Meanwhile, the Anantnag police apprehended three Over Ground Workers (OGWs) through the Facial Recognition System on Wednesday. According to a police spokesman, the Facial Recognition System (FRS) installed by Anantnag Police generated timely alerts regarding three suspicious individuals while they were passing through the Sarbal area, who were subsequently arrested.
