Police in Kashmir killed a commander of a separatist group fighting to end Indian rule in the Himalayan region, officials said Friday.
Rafiq Ledri, 35, who police allege headed the armed wing of Al-Umar Mujahedeen, was shot late Thursday during a raid on his hideout in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir, said Javed Gilani, a senior superintendent of police.
The Al-Umar Mujahedeen group is headed by Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, who was released from an Indian jail along with other militants in 1999 and flown to Afghanistan. They were freed in exchange for the release of more than 150 hostages aboard a hijacked Indian Airlines plane.
As news spread of Ledri’s death, about 300 people gathered at his home, chanting, “We want freedom.”
In a separate offensive, Indian troops shot and killed three suspected militants in Bandipora, said a military spokesman.
