Life came to full circle for the 35-year-old bespectacled chief of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit as he was gunned down at the same village from where he had scripted his journey in militancy in 2012.
Umer Khalid was a A++ category top ranking terrorist and carried a cash reward of nearly Rs 7 lakh.
Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were on Thursday gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Kashmir, the police said.
He said 162 terrorists and Maoists were killed across the country in 2021-22.
In the gun battle, one terrorist identified as Sadam Hussain Mir, a resident of Chatripora Shopian, belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed, the official said.
Major General B S Raju said a full scale cordon-and-search operation, like the one conducted in Shopian recently, will be carried out only in places where the army's operations are hampered.
Weapons and war-like stores were recovered from the encounter site.
Death was staring them in the face as flood waters rapidly rose and there were no rescuers in sight. Relief came only after the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and teams from the National Disaster Rescue Force swung into action with the needed equipment. And with that, dimming hopes soared up, says our correspondent Mukhtar Ahmad, who himself had a narrow escape in Srinagar.
A top Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Thursday.
Security forces on Saturday killed three terrorists, including two who had allegedly snatched rifles from policemen in Kulgam district earlier this week, in separate operations in Shopian and Sopore areas of Kashmir valley. Acting on specific information, security forces on Friday night launched a search operation in Lehend-Habdipora area of the Shopian district, 52 kms from Srinagar, officials said.
Three terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag.
According to new guidelines imposed by authorities on Sunday, shops have been allowed to open on alternate days.
Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Saddam Padder is also believed to be among the slain terrorists.
Earlier in 2010, the highest number of 156 terrorists were killed between January and July that year.
Aurangzeb was abducted when he was on his way home in Rajouri district for Eid celebrations.
The DGP said Jatt's killing, along with one of his associates, was a big success for the security forces.
Rawat was briefed on the prevailing security situation in J&K Valley and recent operations conducted by the security forces.
Four militants were killed in a gun-battle with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
Acting on a tip off, police cordoned off Alaypore village in Shopian. The militants hiding in a house opened fire at the security forces and in the ensuing firefight, two militants were killed, official sources said.
Kashmir remained cut off from rest of the country for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday as the arterial Jammu-Srinagar national highway and the Mughal road remained closed, while air traffic was suspended due to heavy snowfall across the valley.
After a year, a father's hope of finding the body of his son, Shakir Wagey, who worked with the Territorial Army and was killed by terrorists, was rekindled on Wednesday when the Army recovered a decomposed body near a mobile tower in this district of South Kashmir.
An army official said the slain youths were "hardcore terrorists" who used a lot of ammunition and grenades against the security forces during the encounter.
The accused, identified as Tariq Mir, a resident of Maldoora of Shopian district in south Kashmir, was the fifth person arrested in the case which came to light when Singh was arrested along with three terrorists including a most wanted Hizbul Mujahideen commander in January this year.
If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various terror groups, according to the officials.
Waseem Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined the insurgency in May this year.
Two terrorists of the Lashkar-e Tayiba outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kawdrang area of south Kashmir Shopian district on Monday afternoon.
Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by three terror attacks in three hours. Unidentified gunmen shot at a civilian in Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday.
Lance Naik Wani was martyred on November 26 while fighting six terrorists in South Kashmir's Shopian district. He was killed after he was hit by a volley of bullets when he stormed the target house.
The listed terrorists have been identified as Ashiq Hussain Ganaie of Panjran Pulwama and Imran Ahmad Bhat of Arihal Pulwama.
Wani laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year.
It is estimated that around two dozen terrorists are well-entrenched within the city limits, while their movement and visibility in rural areas have become a routine.
Two militants were killed in a fierce encounter in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Thursday, according to a senior police officer.
The encounter started when security forces launched a joint operation in Posta-Potra village in Gundana area, 26 km from Doda town, following information about presence of some terrorists, the officials said.
People on Tuesday took to streets and pelted stones on security forces at several places of Kashmir, including Pampore where a 48-hour gunbattle between three terrorists and the army ended on Monday.
As many as 160 terrorists were killed and 102 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
The officer claimed 88 Kashmiri youths joined militancy in 2016.
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The cremation is expected to take place at Besant Nagar area of Chennai on Monday with full military honours.
The highway was closed on Saturday due to heavy snowfall and landslides.
An army major, who killed two terrorists in an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, has been posthumously conferred the highest peacetime gallantry medal Ashok Chakra on the occasion of Independence Day.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel, including an officer, were killed in a militant attack in Sangam area of Anantnag district in Jammu & Kashmir.
