Two militants of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of them apparently a Pakistani national, were shot dead in an encounter with the Delhi Police in the heart of the city on Monday night.

Osama and Shabbir were intercepted by a team of the Delhi police's special cell, which had intelligence input that a consignment of arms and explosives from Jammu and Kashmir [Images] was to be delivered to one of the duo near the Pragati Maidan at about 2100 IST, Joint Commissioner of Police (special cell) Karnail Singh told PTI.

One militant, driving a car, arrived near the Pragati Maidan at around 2130 IST, where the other joined him.

When the two tried to drive away in the vehicle, a police team asked them to stop. But the militants speeded away to a road where another police team had taken up position. It asked the ultras to halt, Singh said.

However, the militants came out of the vehicle and attempted to flee by opening fire at the police team. The team retaliated the fire, triggering the encounter.

The ultras with bullet wounds were taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where they were declared brought dead.

Two AK 56 rifles, two magazines, 59 rounds of ammunition, two kg RDX, four detonators, two timers, one satellite phone and a mobile phone were recovered from them, Singh said.

A diary recovered from their car said Osama was from Sialkot in Pakistan. It also contained several e-mail addresses and entries in Urdu, which were being checked by the police.

Election identity cards recovered from the dead militants, however, gave their names as Wani and Mohammad Ahmed from Kistwar of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said.

Police sources said the size of the consignment of arms and explosives indicated the militants wanted to carry out a major terrorist operation. But it was not immediately clear if their target was Delhi.

Singh said the police had information in the first week of this month that LeT was trying to set up a base in Delhi. A team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajbir kept a tab on the matter.

Additional intelligence and technical inputs later warned about LeT modules operating in the national capital and that a Pakistani had joined the module, he said.

The police were tipped off on Sunday that this module was to be delivered weapons and explosives from Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

Further confirmation was received in the morning. A team led by ACP Rajbir, inspector Mohan Chand Sharma and inspector Badrish were assigned to track the militants.

This is the second encounter in last two months. Three Pakistani militants, who were planning to carry out suicide attack at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun, were shot dead recently.