Pakistan-born Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Naveed Jatt, who was wanted in connection with the assassination of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and escaped from custody in February, was gunned down in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Wednesday
In a major success for the security forces, "most wanted" Jatt, who was an associate of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, was killed along with an accomplice in an encounter in a village in central Kashmir's Budgam area, officials said.
The terrorist had slipped away from the police dragnet at least six times and was involved in multiple attacks in the Valley over the years.
The LeT terrorist was a Pakistani national and due process would be followed, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
"We'll be writing to the Ministry of Home Affairs to inform Pakistan to take the body," Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told PTI.
The endgame for Jatt, alias Hanzalla, started in the early hours of Wednesday when a special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir police cordoned off a house at Kuthpora Chattergam area of Budgam following an intelligence input about the presence of militants, officials said.
A gun battle broke out when those holed up inside the house fired at security forces, they said, detailing the events leading to Jatt's killing. The forces retaliated and the firing intensified as the terrorists moved from one house to another.
"It was swift operation carried out by security forces. We finally got the prize catch Naveed Jatt, who was a Pakistani national," Singh said.
"He has managed to give us the slip in six different encounters but today our boys managed to pin him down," the DGP added.
Jatt, who was known as a commander of the proscribed terror outfit LeT and staged a dramatic escape from a government hospital in Srinagar in February this year.
Jatt was wanted for his complicity in a series of terror crimes, including the killing of noted journalist Shujaat Bukhari in June, attacks on security establishments and many other civilian atrocities, police said.
According to disclosures he made earlier, Jatt alias Abu Hanzalla, was born in Multan in Pakistan and was part of Kasab's group at a madrassa in the neighbouring country where he had undergone arms training.
The ultra had undergone intensive training and was good in handling equipment like compasses, GPS, wireless sets and mobile phones installed with Skype software, an official said.
Jatt and his associates crossed over into Kashmir Valley in October 2012, state police records.
He notched a long history of terror crime after that.
The 22-year-old school dropout from Pakistan was involved in multiple terror strikes, including an attack on the Army in Hyderpora in Srinagar, an attack on the Silver Star hotel along the national highway outside the city and three attacks on police and CRPF camps in south Kashmir.
He was involved in the killing of an ASI in Pulwama on May 2013, a series of grenade attacks on security forces and the killing of CRPF personnel at Awneera Shopian in August 2013, officials said, giving details.
Besides, he was also involved in conspiring and executing several bank robberies and terror attacks in south Kashmir including an attack on a court complex in Pulwama on March 2014 in which two policemen were killed and the strike against a polling party in Shopian the following month in which a presiding official, Zai-ul-Haq Wani, was killed and several civilians.
The "most wanted" terrorist was also believed to be involved in an attack on a police team in Bongam Shopian on June 2014 in which several civilians and policemen were injured
