In a major development, Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday eliminated one of the top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists Junaid Ahmed Bhat in an encounter. Notably, Junaid Ahmed Bhat was involved in the killing of six workers and a doctor at a housing camp of a private company in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal was shot dead by the security forces in an encounter. Preliminary reports suggest that the crackdown against some of the dreaded terrorists is still underway in Dachigam, with J&K Police and the Army carrying out the joint operation.
Kashmir Zone Police wrote on X, "In the ongoing operation, one terrorist was killed and has been identified as Junaid Ahmed Bhat (LeT, Category A). The said terrorist was involved in civilians killing at Gagangir, Ganderbal and several other terror attacks. Operation continues in the upper reaches of Dachigam by J&K Police along with Joint Parties of RR and Security Forces."
Following his killing, security has been beefed up in the area and security forces have increased operations against the terrorists in the recent past following several attacks carried out by the terrorists. Baramulla Police earlier on November 23 busted a terror hideout in the Kunzer area of Baramulla district.
The encounter with the terrorists in Dachigram started on Monday evening after a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) initiated a search operation based on intelligence inputs suggesting the presence of a non-local group in the area.
Reports suggest that two terrorists were initially believed to be trapped in the area as the operation continued and the latest encounter in the area comes amid a series of security-related incidents in Kashmir Valley.
Junaid Ahmed Bhat was recently captured on CCTV just after the October 20 attack at a tunnel construction site in Ganderbal that killed a doctor and six migrant workers. The CCTV image surfaced just days after the attack showed Bhat entering a worker's camp where the labourers and other staff working on the tunnel project lived.
A resident of Kulgam, Junaid Ahmed Bhat was seen dressed in black and wrapped in a grey shawl, carrying a rifle in the picture.
