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Mastermind of Uttar Pradesh Blasts Killed in Kashmir: Police

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Jan 25: Police claimed to have killed a top militant commander, who, according to them, masterminded the bomb blasts in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A police officer claimed that top commander of Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) Bashir Ahmed alias Sabah Hijaji was killed in an encounter with police and army personnel at Kishtwar in the mountainous Doda region.

He claimed that a satellite phone, a wireless set and AK rifles were recovered from the site of encounter. He said that police and army in Kashmir were looking for him and his name surfaced during the interrogation of militants arrested in connection with the blasts in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The slain militant commander hailed from a South Kashmir district and had joined militancy in 1992 and since then had been active.

An Indian army spokesman in Jammu claimed that the slain militant commander was the brain behind the blasts in three court premises in November in Uttar Padesh.

He said that he was a specialist in handling and making of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and jungle warfare.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.