LeT commander, Pak terrorist killed in encounter in Srinagar

A day after his arrest, top Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Nadeem Abrar and a Pakistani terrorist were killed in an encounter in Parimpora area of the city, police said on Tuesday.

Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

The two were gunned down by a police party in the early hours of Tuesday, they said.

Giving details of the incident, a police spokesman said Abrar -- a top commander of LeT involved in many killings -- was arrested during checking of vehicles at Parimpora on Monday and put on sustained interrogation.

The LeT commander confessed that he had kept his AK-47 rifle in Maloora locality, the spokesman said.

There was a specific input about terrorists carrying an attack on highways. Keeping in view the seriousness of the input, a few joint checkposts of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF were placed along the highway, he said.

"On Parimpora naka (checkpost), a vehicle was stopped and the occupants were asked to show their identity cards. The person sitting at the back seat tried to open his bag and took out a grenade. The police party swiftly swung into action and grabbed him.

"Both the driver and the person sitting at the back seat were taken into police custody. After taking off his mask, it was identified that he was Abrar, a top LeT commander," the spokesman said.

He said a pistol and some hand grenades were recovered from Abrar's possession.

From there, Abrar was taken to the house so that the weapon (AK 47 rifle) could be recovered. The police party was entering his house after cordoning it off when the Pakistani terrorist hiding inside the premises opened fire at the team.

In the initial round of fire, three CRPF personnel were injured and Abrar accompanying the search party also got wounded, the spokesman said.

The force was strengthened and they retaliated with heavy firing, he said.

"In the ensuing gunfire, the foreign terrorist who fired from inside the house was neutralised and Abrar was also killed. Two AK-47 rifles along with ammunition were recovered from the site," he added.

The spokesman said Abrar was involved in killings of several security force personnel.