Gunfight with Lashkar commander,aide on

Tuesday,police arrested militant Lateef Ahmad from Srinagar.

A gunfight has started between militants and the police in central Kashmirs Budgam district,where a top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander and his aide are believed to be holed up. Sources said one of the holed-up militants had been injured.

This is the second police operation in Budgam since Tuesday evening after the arrest of a Lashkar militant from Srinagar Wednesday evening,the police cordoned off the Chadoora village in Budgam after specific information about presence of militants there. As they zeroed in on the target house,militants opened indiscriminate fire. The police retaliated. The encounter was on till the time of filing this report.

Sources said the holed-up militants include top Pakistani Lashkar commander Umar and his aide Riyaz Ahmad Dar,a resident of Chadoora.

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Tuesday,police arrested militant Lateef Ahmad from Srinagar. Lateef,a resident of Chadoora,is also associated with Lashkar. Later,they arrested two more persons from Old City.

After Lateefs arrest,the police raided a militant hideout in Budgam on Tuesday evening. The militants,however,managed to escape after a brief gunfight.

Sources said Lateef and the two holed-up militants were responsible for the killing of a police officer in Chadoora earlier this month. Chadoora Station House Officer Shabir Ahmad was killed on December 2 when militants fired at him from close range.