Top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Naveed Jatt, involved in the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari earlier this year, was gunned down by security forces in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday. Bukhari, who was the Editor-in-Chief of the daily Rising Kashmir, was killed in June 2018.

Police sources told news agencies that Jatt alias Abu Hanzallah was among the two terrorists killed in the gunfight that broke out on Wednesday morning while the forces were conducting a cordon and search operation in Kuthpora village.

Naveed Jatt, who was one of the most wanted militants, was a Pakistani national who had escaped from police custody in Srinagar on February 6, when he was being taken for a medical check-up to a hospital from the Srinagar Central Jail. Six terrorists had laid siege to the hospital to try and help Jatt to escape and two policemen were martyred in that attack.

According to reports, Jatt was a resident of Multan in Pakistan and had entered India from Keran in North Kashmir in October 2012. When he was arrested in 2014, Jatt had reportedly claimed responsibility of killing paramilitary forces and policemen.

The killing of Jatt is seen as a big success for the security forces in their

“This week was great, those involved in the killing of innocent people in Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian belt were neutralized. As per ground verification, top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Naveed Jatt was one of the two terrorists killed today,” ANI quoted Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh as saying.

Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead by terrorists on June 14, 2018, when he was coming out of his office in Press Enclave in Srinagar. Three motorcycle-borne militants fired at Bukhari and his guards while he was entering his car. Bukhari and one guard were killed on the spot and another security guard who was critically injured succumbed to his injuries later. Bukhari’s death had drawn widespread condemnation from journalists, activists and politicians alike.