After a hunt of 10 months, Delhi HC blast accused shot

After a nearly 10-month-long hunt in the snow-clad mountains of Kishtwar, the prime accused in the 2011 Delhi High Court blast was shot dead today.

Amir Kamal was killed along with another alleged Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Mohd Shafi Hazam, in a joint operation by the J&K Police and Army.

A self-styled divisional commander of the Hizbul, Kamal belonged to Kishtwar and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. Hazam, active in the area since 2005, was from Marwah. Security forces claimed to have recovered weapons and ammunition from the encounter site.

Kamal is alleged to have carried out the September 7 high court blast — which left 15 dead and 80 injured — along with Shakir Hussain Sheikh alias Chotta Hafiz alias Adil and Junaid Akram Malik. Adil remains the only one missing as the state police believe Malik has been killed by own associates. They have had no leads on Malik for several months, said IGP, Jammu zone, Dilbagh Singh.

Among those in custody in the case are Malik's elder brother Waseem Akram and two Kishtwar boys.

While security forces had almost caught Adil in May in Kishtwar, he had managed to escape. An alleged militant with him at the time, Akhtar Hussain, had been killed in the encounter.

Kamal and Hazam were killed reportedly following a three-hour gunbattle.

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