New Delhi, Aug 1: Lashkar-e-Toiba's (LeT) Kashmir head Abu Dujana was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday morning.
Also reportedly killed is another LeT terrorist Arif Lilhaari. One or two more terrorists were reportedly trapped in the encounter along with Dujana and Lilhaari. Their fate is not known yet.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Pulwama's Hakripora village, security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area, a police official said.
The militants opened fired during the operation, prompting retaliation from the forces which triggered a gun battle, he said.
Following news of Dujana's and Lilhaari's killing, clashes broke out near the encounter site in Hakripora between protesters and police Fifteen people were reportedly injured in the violence, police said.
Dujana, alias Hafiz, was the LeT's so-called 'divisional commander', and reportedly hailed from northern Pakistan. His name was on a hit list compiled by security forces of terrorists belonging to the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Dujana came close to being caught by security forces in May in the same village that Tuesday's encounter occurred in. A stone-pelting mob however gave him cover to escape. That was the fifth close escape he had.
Security forces are said to be going after terrorists as part of operation "hunt down" and on the basis of this "hit list" of terrorists, a senior official said last month. These forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police have killed 102 terrorists until July this year, making it the highest number of killings in the January-July period in seven years, a police official said last month.
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