One of the most wanted terrorists in Kashmir, who was allegedly responsible for several political killings in the area, including that of BJP leader Rakesh Pandita in June, was gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on Saturday. Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said out of three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists killed in the encounter was Wakeel Shah, who figured in the “most wanted” list of categorised terrorists.
“As per police records, the killed terrorist Wakeel Shah was a categorised terrorist and figured among the list of most wanted terrorists operating in the Valley. He was instrumental in planning and executing terror attacks on security establishments and civilian killings; several cases have already been registered against him,” Kumar said.
He said Shah executed a series of attacks on police and security forces and resorted to killing civilians, branding them as “informers” for police and security forces.
“Shah was involved in killing Tral municipal chairman and BJP leader Rakesh Pandita at Tral Payeen; Shabir Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Noorabad Tral; Mohd Ayoub Ahanger, a resident of Tral Payeen; Shakeela Begum, a resident of Dar Ganie Gund; SPO (special police officer) Fayaz Ahmad, his wife Raja Begum and daughter Rafia Jan at Hariparigam,” Kumar said.
He also said Shah was also involved in a series of firing and grenade lobbing attacks on police and security forces, including firing on security forces during cordon and search operation at Brenthal, grenade lobbing at a bus stand in Tral on October 18, 2020.
He said Shah was also wanted in cases pertaining to recovery of narcotics and explosives at Tral Payeen last year.
Police said on a specific input generated by Awantipora police, regarding the presence of a group of JeM terrorists in the upper reaches of the forest area of Nagaberan Dhokaor area of Tral, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by police and army.
“During the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired at the joint search party. The party retaliated leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, three terrorists of proscribed terror outfit JeM were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. One of the killed terrorists has been identified as Wakeel Ahmad Shah, son of Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, a resident of Bagandar Tral. However, the identification of other two is being ascertained,” Kumar said.
Police said incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were also recovered from the site of the encounter.
“All recovered material was taken into case records for further investigation and to probe complicity in other terror crimes. In this connection, police registered a case under relevant sections and investigation is in progress,” Kumar said.
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