A Jaish-e-Mohammed commander, who was gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on January 23, took shelter inside a house during the operation and used that family as a shield before being gunned down by
security forces.
The terrorist from Pakistan, identified as Usman, was shot dead in a high-stakes operation in Kathua district’s Parhetar village.
The operation and searches had been underway for more than a week. “The joint operation of J&K police, Indian Army and CRPF was started, today the situation was a hostage situation, but our brave police jawans rescued the civilians, and fierce gunbattle took place,” Kathua SSP Mohita Sharma was quoted by news agency
ANI.Sharma said Usman had been active since 2024, and six terror acts were registered against him including the killing of civilians and security forces. Three of his hideouts have been busted so far, along with the natural caves he used, and one was a manmade hideout.
“After the encounter, when he escaped, our search operation continued in this entire forest area. During this operation, there was a major contact with him, and three hideouts were also busted,” Sharma said. “Today, we received another specific input around 1 pm. It was from Parhetar village stating that he was in a house and had taken some civilians hostage. We immediately moved our party there, and our CRPF and army personnel were also with us, forming a cordon.”
The SSP said the team first evacuated the civilians from there and then went into the house, snatching his weapon and shooting at him.
“It did come to a full-blown combat situation, and he fired first from inside. As soon as we entered, our party displayed exceptional bravery – the kind of bravery for which the JKP (Jammu and Kashmir Police) is famous throughout the country and the world – in snatching his weapon and shooting him,” the officer said.
The officer said Usman was a “dreaded” terrorist, who was at the level of a commander in the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist. An M4 weapon was recovered from him, the officer added.
