Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday arrested a self-styled battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen after a fierce gunbattle in Kupwara district of the state.
Srinagar, May 18 : Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday arrested a self-styled battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen after a fierce gunbattle in Kupwara district of the state.
Shaheen Ahmad Malik alias Sajad, active for the last nine years and wanted in a large number of militancy-related incidents, was arrested after a shootout at village Chak Sanzipora in Kupwara district, Handwara Superintendent of Police Haseeb Mughal told reporters.
He said the militant was hiding in the village and opened fire on a joint search party of the police and Rashtriya Rifles, triggering a fierce firefight.
After the militant was trapped, he tried to conceal his arms and ammunition in the nearby bushes and tried to escape from the cordon.
Following his arrest, security forces recovered an AK 47, three magazines, 43 rounds of ammunition, two under barrel grenade launcher (ubgl) grenades and a chinese grenade, the SP said.
Also known among militant ranks as Usman, Malik had undergone arms training in Pakistan and was active in Mawar, Qaziabad and Guloora area of Handwara for the last nine years.
A resident of Guloora village, he was a close associate of self-styled district commander Mudasir Shabir Ganie alias Ali and Mushtaq Ahmad Malla alias Furkan, both of whom were recently arrested, the SP said.
In another operation, security forces arrested a close associate of a Hizbul commander from Nowgam area of Shopian district this morning, a police spokesman said here.
ANI