Top Al-Badr commander Zeenat-ul-Islam was killed along with an associate on Saturday in an ambush launched by the government forces in Katpora village of Yaripora area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
As per reports, on a tip-off on the presence of militants in the area, at around 5:30 PM government forces laid a siege at Katpora village of Yaripora.
Police officials told NewsClick that they reached close to the suspected spot and claimed that the militants, who were coming out of a residential premise, tried to break the cordon and opened fire on the forces.
During the ambush, two militants, including Zeenat-ul-Islam, an Al-Badr leader, were killed in an open field. Islam alias Dr Usman was earlier associated with Hizbul Mujahedeen (HM).
Islam’s associate was identified as Shakeel Ahmad Dar alias Faisal of Chilipora, Shopian.
For the first time, Islam was detained in 2008 when he was 20 years old, the same year when Kashmir witnessed widespread protests over the issue of land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board. He was slapped with Public Safety Act (PSA) for working as an over ground worker (OGW) for militants.
A resident of Sugan Zanipura area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district, Islam was alleged to be in touch with many militant outfits and was facilitating them.
After spending three years in jail, he was released in 2011.
Islam is yet another case of an educated youth being drawn towards militancy. Born in a middle-class family, he finished his Bachelors in Arts and meanwhile was helping his farmer father, Ghulam Hassan Shah.
Islam got married and in 2015, he joined militant ranks. In the beginning, he was affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba and then HM. He was considered as an expert in improvised explosive devices (IED).
He was accused of a deadly attack on forces in South Kashmir’s Shopian district in which three troopers and a woman was killed on February 23, 2017.
Islam was among 12 most wanted militants in Kashmir by government forces, in which Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind chief, Zakir Musa, tops the list. He was believed to be the top recruiter of militants in South Kashmir.
The eldest among three siblings, Islam has three-year-old daughter.
To get the hold of the commander and catch him alive which could have led the security forces to break the strategy of militancy in South, the forces had even tried to put pressure on his father to ask his son to surrender, but he could help them with his son’s decision.
Soon after encounter ended, thousands of people marched towards Islam’s residence to attend his funeral and get his last glimpse. To stop dissemination of news and information, the authorities suspended internet service in Shopian and Kulgam.