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Top militant escapes, manhunt on in Srinagar

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Security forces sealed the city of Srinagar Tuesday evening following a top militant's escape.

A senior police official told rediff.com that Ghulam Rasool Shah alias General Abdullah, the former chief commander of Jamiat-ul-Mujaheedin, a pro-Pakistan militant outfit, escaped from the SMHS hospital this afternoon. He gave the slip to a police party that escorted him.

Sources said four detenues were brought from the high-security Central jail to the SMHS hospital Tuesday afternoon. There, Rasool Shah and his accomplice, identified as Jameel Ahmad Mir, a militant of the Al-Burq, told the police that they wanted to use the toilet. The police allowed that, and the duo escaped through the window.

A manhunt was then mounted in the hospital premises, and police and Border Security Force personnel managed to nab Jameel Ahmad. Messages were immediately flashed to all police stations in the city. Now a joint operation by the BSF, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Kashmir Police is on.

All roads leading to the city have been sealed and no movement is allowed. The main bridges connecting various localities in the summer capital have also been sealed. Senior police officers are supervising the operation.

However, a spokesman of the Jamiat-ul-Mujaheedin denied that Rasool Shah escaped. In a statement he said Shah was arrested by the security forces from the hospital.

The police said the four personnel escorting the detenues are being interrogated.

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