Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Commander Zahid Wani was among four terrorists who were killed in the Pulwama encounter in the last 12 hours.
Arms including Grenades and AK series weapons were recovered from the encounter site, said an official release on Sunday.
The weapons recovered from the site include one M4 with night vision sight, two AK Series weapons, two pistols and 12 grenades.
"An Operation was launched in Naira Pulwama on 29 Jan evening against the Jaish terrorists. Total 4 terrorists were killed in this encounter including 1 Pakistani terrorist and Zahid Wani who was one of the main Jaish commanders after Lamboo and Sameer Dar. Pakistani terrorist who was killed was active in the area since 2020," said the release.
The brother of UN-designated terrorist Massod Azhar controlled this entire terror module.
"This module was directly controlled from across with the support of Sakargargh and Kotli camps under the direct supervision of Qari Zarar and Mulana Rouf Azhar (brother of Massod Azhar). Pakistan is continuously trying to push these elements to India from across," said the release.
Wani was originally from the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) outfit, banned by the government of India, and was also arrested in 2016.
"Zahid Wani was originally a staunch OGW of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) outfit. He was arrested in 2016 in Srinagar in connection with harbouring two TUM terrorists namely Danish and Mugeez belonging to Srinagar's Parimpora PS. He had arranged camouflage gear for those two terrorists back then. He was an extremely radical and a hardcore Jihadi," the release said.
"Zahid was one of the oldest surviving JeM terrorists and Top Jaesh Commander in South Kashmir after the killing of Jaish Terrorist Lamboo and Sameer Dar who were the mastermind of the Pulwama incident. He was active since the year 2017 and was responsible for large-scale recruitment of terrorists in South Kashmir," added the release.
The other terrorists killed in the encounter are Waheed Ah Reshi hailing from Khadarmuh, Inayaitullah from Nyira, Kafir (Pakistani terrorist).
Addressing a joint press conference here with IGP Kashmir, Major General Srivastava said, "Following an operation that took place last night (in Pulwama), we've neutralized Zahid Mansoor Wani, JeM commander in this area. He was one of the masterminds behind various IED attacks since 2017. He was also actively involved in the recruitment of young boys."
( With inputs from ANI )
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