'You can run but you can't hide': After 5 days of search, Lashkar commander killed in J-K’s Shopian

A self-styled Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was killed on Wednesday in an anti-terror operation by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police said.

Security forces had launched the search operation in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area, which comprises seven villages, in the south Kashmir district on July 3.

"You Can Run But You Can't Hide! One Lashkar terrorist neutralised by SOG Shopian, in a Jt Op, along with RR and CRPF," the J-K Police said in a post on X.

A senior police official identified the slain terrorist as Zakir Ahmad Ganie, a self-styled commander of the proscribed LeT outfit.

Ganie (26), a resident of Motalhama area of the neighbouring Kulgam district, had on September 27, 2023 left his residence for Dialgam to undertake shuttering work but failed to return home, the officials said.

They said that after an unsuccessful search by his family, a missing report was lodged at Kulgam police station on October 3, 2023.

Ganie subsequently joined The Resistance Front (TRF) terror outfit, an offshoot of the LeT, the officials said.

They said he has been implicated in an FIR registered at Kulgam police station under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Security forces had first spotted two terrorists by surveillance cameras on July 3 in a dense orchard in the Meemandar area, officials said.

A joint team of police, Army's 55 RR and 44 RR, and CRPF had maintained a tight cordon around the area over the last five days with intermittent exchanged of firing taking place between the two sides, they said.

The Army's specialised counter-insurgency unit, Victor Force, has deployed additional personnel to seal all possible escape routes through the thick orchard foliage, besides lighting up the area.

During the summer months, the heavy foliage offers a natural cover, making surveillance difficult and allowing trapped terrorists to exploit blind spots to break the cordons, they said.

Shopian has historically served as a critical transit corridor connecting south Kashmir to central Kashmir and the Pir Panjal range.

Apart from Ganie, the other trapped terrorist was believed to be Latif, who joined the outfit last year.