Srinagar, May 9
A top militant of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia and one of the main brains behind the twin blasts that rocked Varanasi recently was shot dead in a gunbattle in the Handwara area today.
Mohammad Zubair, a resident of Bharaich in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly involved in terror attacks in Varanasi’s Sankatmochan Temple and the railway station that killed 20 persons.
Zubair was shot dead during an encounter with troops of 4 Jat and the Special Operation Group of the police at Haren village, 90 km from here.
The Inspector-General of Police (Kashmir Range), Mr K. Rajendra, said two of Zubair’s accomplices escaped before the encounter.
Terming the killing of Zubair as a major success, Mr Rajendra said: “We had a specific input from the Uttar Pradesh police about him at least a month back. He could have been trying to flee to Pakistan.”
Meanwhile, the security forces today foiled plans by militants to set off a series of blasts ahead of the crucial May 25 round-table conference here when they unearthed a laboratory run by militants in Anantnag district.
The laboratory, being run by the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, in a private house to assemble various IED circuits for car bombs was busted during raids in Bijbehara, a defence spokesman said.
The raids were conducted following the recovery of a diary of a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant and mastermind behind all major car combs attacks since 2004 Mustaq Ahmed Bhat, who was killed in an ambush on Sunday at Noorpora-Tral in Pulwama district.
— PTI
