Thaindian News

Jammu, Aug 6 (IANS) A 2011 Delhi High Court blast accused, Amir Ali Kamal, was among two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants killed Monday in a shootout with security forces in the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. One militant was arrested.

A senior police officer said that, based on a tip-off, they launched an operation to nab top militants reported to be hiding in Dachan areas, about 270 km north-east of Jammu.

“We launched an operation today (Monday) morning by throwing a cordon around the area. As we closed in on the hideout of the militants, a fire fight began that continued for over an hour,” he said.

According to reports, two militants have been shot dead in the encounter. “One of them is Amir Ali Kamal, code name Akram, who was prime accused in the Delhi High Court blast,” the officer said.

Akram was on the radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as he is believed to have arranged explosives and planter for the blast. The other person killed was identified as Shafi. Both of them belong to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit, the officer added.

Akram was one of the most wanted militants due to his involvement in many crimes and terror activities. He is an accused in the Delhi High Court blast of Sep 7, 2011 in which at least 10 people were killed and over 70 injured.

The NIA wanted to catch Akram alive as he could provide clues in resolving the blast case. Therefore, he was being tracked through various sources and conduits.

According to police sources, there was intelligence input that a group of seven militants, including Jehangir (top Commander of HM of the area), Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias Chota Hafiz (HM district commander), Riaz, Rizwan and Shafi along with two other associates, were holding a meeting to strategise plans for future action.

The security forces struck in the morning when this meeting was going on. According to these sources, Akram (aka Amir Ali Kamal) and Shafi were killed. One injured militant was trapped in the security cordon while four others managed to escape. The police are yet to confirm this officially.

The Kishtwar area has been in focus ever since the Delhi High Court blast as the first of the e-mails claiming responsibility for the blast emanated from here leading to the arrest of two youths. Two more youths were arrested later for allegedly being involved in the blast.