LeT Terrorist Carrying Rs 5 Lakh Reward Arrested in J&K's Doda, AK-47 Recovered

Jammu: A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh was arrested in a joint operation in the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Wednesday, police said.

Jamal-ud-din Gujjar, alias Abu Bakar, was arrested from Phagsoo forest in Thathri area in a joint operation of the police and the 26 Rashtriya Rifles following reliable information on the movement of militants, an official spokesman said.

An AK-47 rifle and magazine were recovered from Gujjar, who was operating in Kishtwar for the last one year, he said. Gujjar's arrest is a major breakthrough in view of the recent targeted killings in the district, the official said.

Gujrar, who hails from Pathna Keshwan in Kishtwar, was earlier injured in an encounter with security forces in Sarawan forest and was in hiding since then, he said. A picture of the LeT terrorist holding an AK assault rifle went viral on social media in October last year.

This is the security forces' first major recent success in Kishtwar, which was proclaimed terrorist-free a decade ago but was rattled by the killing of BJP state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar on November 1 last year.

On April 9, senior RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma and his security guard were shot dead inside a health centre.

Apart from the killings, terrorists snatched the service rifle of a policeman in the district on March 8, days before police circulated pictures of seven wanted terrorists, including Gujjar, and announced cash reward and a job for anyone providing information leading to their arrest or killing.

Inspector General of Police, Jammu, M K Sinha had recently said at least 10 local militants -- eight from Hizbul Mujahideen and two from LeT -- were active in the district, which witnessed two encounters between militants and search parties in Marwah on May 31 and Keshwan forest on June 21.

While two special police officers were injured in the brief Marwah gunfight, the militants managed to escape after another brief encounters in Keshwan forest, though one of them was suspected to have been injured.