Hizb master bomb-maker among six killed in J

Srinagar, May 7 (UNI) A top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, believed to be a master in making bombs and responsible for carrying out several explosions in the Valley since 2004, was among the six people killed while troops rescued two youth abducted by militants across Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, a police spokesman said today.

In a joint operation, the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police shot dead a self-styled deputy divisional commander of pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen, Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat alias Gowhar, during an encounter at Noorpora village in Tral area in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today, he said.

An AK rifle, two magazines and two hand grenades were seized from the encounter site, the spokesman added.

However, giving details of the incident, a defence spokesman said the Army killed the Hizb district Commander for Anantnag, Mushtaq Ahmed Bhat alias Gowhar, a resident of Kavil, Shikargarh in Tral, in an ambush early today in Nooripora area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir.

One AK 56 rifle along with magazines and ammunition have been seized from the slain militant commander, he added.

The spokesman said Gowhar, a dreaded and most wanted militant of south Kashmir, had been active since 1993.

He had undergone extensive training in arms and making of improvised explosive devices in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the spokesman added.

He said Gowhar had been the mastermind of all the car bomb blasts in the Kashmir valley since 2004 which resulted in large number of casualties to both the security forces and the innocent civilians.

''He has been involved in ruthless killing of civilians in Tral and Anantnag areas to ensure the writ of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Beheading of a Gujjar couple in northern part of Tral in 2004 was his handiwork,'' the spokesman claimed.

He said 35-year-old Gowhar, with radio set code Aijaz, was the overall coordinator of the Hizb.

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