Top Jaish man gunned down in J038;K

Acting on a specific information that some militants were hiding in Bhatti-Dar area,Rashtriya Rifles troops and state police launched a search-and-cordon operation. During the searches,militants fired at security forces who retaliated triggering a fierce gunbattle in which Kihtab was killed.

Kihtab had taken over as JeM divisional commander after the killing of its former chiefs,Dawood and Fazal,in separate encounters with security forces in Poonch district last year.

During the gunbattle which was still raging,JeM operative Juber and three militant sympathisers were apprehended. Among those arrested are a dismissed CRPF personnel and his son in whose house the militants had taken refuge.

Two AK rifles,a Chinese pistol,a grenade and two magazines and Rs 62,000 in Indian currency were recovered from the scene of the gunbattle.

Security forces also conducted searches in Alal forest belt in Rajouri district to flush out militants hiding in the area,police said.

With PTI