On specific information about the presence of militants, police and troops of 10 Rashtriya Rifle launched a joint operation at Nagna Nallah in Doda district, Senior Superintendent of Police, Doda, Manohar Singh, told PTI.
As troops were advancing, they were fired upon by militants by their automatic weapons which was retaliated by troops, he said, adding in the ensuing encounter Abid Hussain Basra, the divisional commander of HM, was killed.
Basra, who hails from Rehimyarkhan area in Punjab province of Pakistan, had been commander of HM outfit for last 10 years and was supervising militant activities, including financial support, in hilly districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, Singh said.
He was oldest surviving militant in Jammu and Kashmir, where he entered from Pakistan in May 1997 from Rajouri sector as a militant of Lashker-e-Tayiba.
He said Basra had several code names like Zargam, Hayat and K2. The recoveries from the encounter site included one A-K rifle with its three magazines and 37 rounds, one grenade, one binocular, two identity cards and one pouch, the officer said.
Search operation was continuing in the area, he added. Four top HM commanders have been killed during the past one year.
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