LeT terrorist involved in Shujaat Bukhari's assassination killed in J-K

Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Naveed Jhutt, who was wanted in connection with the assassination of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and had escaped from custody in February, was killed along with an accomplice in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Wednesday, officials said.

Three army personnel were injured in the encounter that claimed the life of "most wanted" Jhutt, they said.

The LeT terrorist was a Pakistani national, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.

"We'll be writing to the Ministry of Home Affairs to inform Pakistan to take the body," Singh told PTI.

Jhutt's endgame started in the early hours of Wednesday when a special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir police cordoned off a house at Kuthpora locality in Chadoora in Budgam following an intelligence input about the presence of militants, officials said.

A gun battle broke out when those holed up inside the house fired at security forces, they said, detailing the events leading to Jhutt's killing. The forces retaliated and the firing intensified as the terrorists moved from one house to another.

The operation was interrupted when locals cried for help from one of the houses and had to be evacuated. During this process, the militants fired at the police and army teams, leading to minor injuries to the armymen who were shifted to hospital, officials said.

At daybreak, two militants were killed. They were identified when security forces started clearing and sanitising the area. One of them turned out to be Jhutt, who staged a dramatic escape from a government hospital here in February this year.

"It was swift operation carried out by security forces. We finally got the prize catch Naveed Jhutt, who was a Pakistani national," Singh said.

"He has managed to give us the slip in six different encounters but today our boys managed to pin him down," the DGP added.

Jhutt escaped from SMHS hospital on February 6 after he was caught in Kulgam in south Kashmir in 2014. He was moved to hospital with suspected scabies after complaining of itchiness to the medical staff at the Central Jail Srinagar.