Srinagar: Security forces today gunned down a hardcore terrorist affiliated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit and said he was responsible for the 2017 killing of local Army officer Lt Umar Fayaz and a number of minority Kashmiri Hindus.
Bilal Ahmed Bhat, a local, was neutralized by a joint team of Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF in a gunfight that took place early this morning in the Chotigam village of Shopian district of south Kashmir, police said.
An AK assault rifle and its 3 magazines, along with ammunition, were recovered from his possession, the police said.
The gunfight erupted after the joint team of the security forces surrounded Bilal’s hideout on the basis of a specific information about his presence there.
As per police records, the slain terrorist was involved in several terror crime cases, including the killing of Lt Umar Fayaz, who was abducted from his home village in Kulgam while on leave and then killed in May 2017.
Bilal also had hurled a grenade on non-local labourers in Hermain, resulting in their death.
He was also involved in the killing of Kashmiri pandit, namely Sunil Kumar Bhat & injuring another Kashmiri pandit Pitamber Nath, both residents of Chotigam in Shopian, police said.
He was also involved in the attack on local Hindu Bal Krishan @Sonu, a resident of the same Chotigam village.
“Moreover, he was involved in instigating local youth to join terrorist ranks and induced 12 local youth into the ranks of terrorists,” the police said.
He was also involved in the killing of an arrested terrorist who was leading a search party during a search operation in Nowgam in the year 2022, the police added.
