Srinagar, Nov 28 (IANS): The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday confirmed the killing of LeT commander Naveed Jatt, who was wanted for the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, in Badgam district and called the Pakistani's elimination "good news".
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said: "Yes, we have ground confirmation that one of the two terrorists killed in the Badgam encounter was Naveed Jatt."
Naveed Jatt alias Abu Hanzullah was the most wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander in Kashmir. He was wanted for the murder of "Rising Kashmir" Editor Bukhari in Srinagar on June 14.
Bukhari was killed by militants along with two of his security guards. Police believe Naveed Jatt was among the three militants who carried out the crime.
Belonging to Multan in Pakistan, Naveed Jatt had escaped from police custody on February 6 when he was taken for a medical check-up from the Srinagar Central Jail to S.M.H.S. Hospital in the city.
Two policemen were killed during Jatt's escape from the hospital.
Dilbag Singh told the media: "More than two dozen militants have been killed in the last one week. They would lift boys and force them to join militancy. They would also torture them.
"Their elimination is good news for the peace-loving people.
"For the last two months, no new youth has joined militancy in the Valley. That is a welcome development."
The police chief said that security forces do their best to ensure that civilians were not harmed during anti-militancy operations.
"Stone pelting incidents have come down. Lesser the number of militants, better for the people. Youths should desist from going to encounter sites.
"The militant outfits are unable to recruit more youths. With fresh infiltration, sometimes the number of militants operating here goes up," he said.
The killing of Naveed Jatt is seen as a major success for the security forces.
Naveed Jatt was operating in south and central Kashmir. Intelligence agencies believe he was playing a major role in trying to woo youths towards militancy.