By IANS
Jammu : A top commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant outfit, allegedly involved in a number of terror acts within and outside Jammu and Kashmir, was shot dead by security forces Wednesday morning in Bhaderwah area of mountain locked Doda district.
A tip off had alerted police that the militant was hiding in a house in Ganai Mohalla of Bhaderwah, about 210 km northeast of Jammu.
The police and troops of 4 Rashtriya Rifles threw tight cordon around the area, said Manohar Singh, senior superintendent of police.
"The militant was challenged and a fire-fight began early Wednesday morning," Singh said.
The police official said the militant commander lobbed a grenade towards a residential house when the inmates refused him shelter after he attempted to flee from the hideout. The grenade exploded near the door killing a woman inmate.
"The security forces zeroed on him and shot him dead," Singh said.
The slain militant was identified as Abu Umar of Bahawalpur in Pakistan and was the purported area commander of the LeT.
Umar was also the all India co-ordinator of LeT and is believed to have been organizing militant infiltration from across the Line of Control and also through other routes including Nepal, according to the official.
"He was involved in a large number of militancy related activities in Doda and in the Kashmir Valley," Singh said, adding he was also involved in the killing of the deputy superintendent of police in an encounter near Bhaderwah May 30.
The SSP described the killing as a major success for counter insurgency forces.