Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jatt, who was accused of assassinating senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, was gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district in an encounter on Wednesday morning, the police said. Another suspected militant was killed and three Army personnel were injured in the gunfight in Chatergam.
Jatt, who had escaped from the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar in February, was active in South Kashmir and involved in multiple attacks between 2013 and 2014.
“This week was great, those involved in killing of innocent people in Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian belt were neutralized,” Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told ANI. “As per ground verification, top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Naveed Jatt was one of the two terrorists killed today.”
The encounter broke out after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the district after receiving information about the presence of militants there, an unidentified police official told PTI. The militants opened fire at the security personnel, who then retaliated.
Internet services in the district were shut down as a precautionary measure.
Bukhari, a veteran journalist and editor of Rising Kashmir, was shot dead outside his office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave in June along with two of his personal security officers.
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