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Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
Hizbul Mujaheedin deputy chief commander and chief spokesman Abdul Hamid Tantray alias commander Masood was gunned down by the Special Operations Group of the state police in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama late on Tuesday.
A police spokesman said that Masood was killed in an encounter which started after SOG raided Pahoo village in the Pulwama district.
"He opened fire on the SOG during the raid which was returned resulting in on the spot death of the top commander," said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.
He said a pistol and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Masood came into limelight during the July 21, 2000 press conference addressed by the Hizbul Mujahadeen chief commander, when he announced the unilateral ceasefire in the state.
He later met the Union home secretary along with other top commanders of the Hizbul Mujaheedin.
The ceasefire was later withdrawn by the Hizbul Mujahadeen supreme commander Syed Salah-ud-Din in Islamabad.
Masood has been regularly writing in a local weekly Urdu paper. The police spokesman described the killing as a major success achieved by the SOG.
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