Two shot dead in south Delhi encounter, cops say they were Hizb men

Arms and ammunition in large numbers were recovered from the Khanpur operation and the special cell claimed this was to be delivered to the two militants near the Bahai temple.

The two arrested from Khanpur —Tariq Hussain and Tazim Ahmed — provided information on Rashid and Bilal. The arms and ammunition recovered from the Khanpur operation included two AK 56 rifles, four magazines, 120 rounds of ammunition, 4.3 kg of RDX, six hand grenades and two detonators. Cash worth Rs 15 lakh was also recovered.

‘‘The operation at Bahai temple began at 10.15 pm. We knew that these two were expected here, so we laid a trap. A picket was put at one end of the road to block general traffic. The terrorists, travelling in a white Maruti 800 with Delhi registration numbers, were allowed to pass through. Right outside the temple’s main gates, the two were intercepted,’’ said Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Neeraj Kumar.

According to Kumar, the duo opened fire, forcing the police to return fire. The two tried to flee, attempting to scale the gates of a park onthe opposite side of the road. But barely 10 metres inside, both were killed.

Two Chinese pistols and a few empty cartridges were found next to the bodies.

‘‘Although they were kept apart, we believe that the Khanpur group was known to these terorists from Rajouri. They are all part of the Hizbul Mujahideen’s Pir Panjal squad. There is also a person called Mohammed Aftab who is based in Delhi and seems to be working as the local coordinator. We are on the look-out for him as well,’’ Kumar said.

The militants, according to officials, were planning to strike at key places in the Capital.

Although Kumar wouldn’t answer the question directly, he didn’t rule out the possibility of more search operations.

The men held from Khanpur are being interrogated jointly by a team of police and intelligence officials.

On Saturday night, police had arrested 40-year old Rashid Qureshi from north-west Delhi, describing him as a Pakistan-trained militant.