In a major breakthrough, two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including Sameer Ahmed Bhat, alias 'Sameer Tiger', were gunned down in Pulwama district today. A civilian, Shahid Ahmad Dar, was also killed in crossfire while some others were injured when they tried to storm the encounter site at Drabgam.
The encounter has served as a major jolt to Hizbul Mujahideen as Sameer Tiger was considered the main recruiter for the extremist group as well as the brain behind several political killings and he was just 20.
After months of hiding in the thick forests of Kashmir, Tiger came back to where he once belonged -- only to find death lying in wait.
Also read | Kashmir: Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sameer Tiger among three killed in Pulwama encounter
How Hizbul Mujahideen leader met his end
Bhat, who was also known as "Abbasi" and "Faisal", met his end in the village after a six-hour gunbattle around 2.15 pm, they said.
The morning began with security forces, acting on a tip-off that militants were holed up inside a house, cordoning the area.
Around noon, security personnel, who were fighting stone pelting from the civilians, fired heavily at the house, causing an explosion, officials said.
About an hour later, the first militant, identified as Aaquib Mushtaq, was killed. He was a local resident belonging to Rajpora area of Pulwama.
Shortly after, Bhat, who is alleged to have carried out several political and civilian killings in Pulwama area, was gunned down, the officials added.
Also read | Pulwama terror attack: Encounter between CRPF, JeM ends; 5 jawans martyred, 2 militants killed; search ops on
Sameer Ahmed Bhat aka Sameer Tiger: A chronic stone pelter turned top Hizbul commander
He hit the national limelight in November 2017 as the long-haired youth with piercing eyes looking directly into the camera posing with an American M4 carbine in an orchard somewhere in south Kashmir, triggering a debate on how the US-made weapon came to be in the Valley. The photograph was circulated widely on social media.
The man who terrorised the entire Kashmir Valley started out as a chronic stone pelter, officials said. The Class 8 dropout emerged as another poster boy for the Hizbul Mujahideen after the death of Burhan Wani in July 2016.
Three months before that, Bhat was picked up by the Jammu and Kashmir police in March 2016 after he was caught pelting stones on security personnel. He was just 18-years-old at the time.
His pictures on social media had trigerred a debate on the US-made weapon came to be in the Valley.
He was then counselled by police for nearly two weeks and let off with a condition that he would continue with his studies. Instead, one day, not very long after, his parents approached the Drabgam police station and registered a missing report about their son, officials recounted.
Bhat had fled into the jungles of adjoining Tral and joined the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group besides extending help to other terror outfits.
According to senior police officials, Bhat persuaded about 80 people to join the militancy movement in south Kashmir and repeatedly managed to escape the police dragnet -- until now.
The Class 8 dropout, Sameer Bhat, emerged as another poster boy for the Hizbul Mujahideen after the death of Burhan Wani in July 2016.
After Burhan Wani's death, videos of a bearded, long-haired Bhat appeared on various social networking sites in a bid to entice Kashmiri youths to become militants.
He is also alleged to have abducted small-time political workers and police informers, torture them and record their agony. Bhat would then release the films on social networking sites to scare people.
(With PTI inputs)
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