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Top Hizb commander killed in J&K encounter

Dreaded militant Farooq Ahmed Bhat alias Farooq Ansari was killed in an encounter with security forces, while one person was injured and another abducted by militants in Doda district on Wednesday, an official spokesman said.

Rashtriya Rifles personnel, after a three-hour gun battle in the Kalamat forests, killed Ansari, the provincial chief commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen for Doda and Udhampur districts.

Ansari had masterminded the August 13 blast on the national highway in Kud in which several Border Security Force personnel were killed.

Ansari had recently returned from Pakistan after being conferred with a 'prestigious' Inter-Services Intelligence award, the spokesman said.

Troops were continuing search operations to track down another high-ranking militant and the slain militant's brother Shakeel Ansari, he said.

In another incident in the district, two unidentified men forced their entry into the house of one Bashir Ahmed and demanded that his son join the militancy. On refusal, they opened fire, injuring one of Ahmed's sons before abducting another, the spokesman said.

Police arrested a militant guide Mohammed Khan of Dar Dullian from Salotri border of Poonch district, he added.

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