Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say they have killed a commander of the militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen. They say Abdul Rashid, alias Gazi Shahabuddin, was killed in a fire-fight after the police raided his hide-out in the Maharajganj area of Srinagar. Another high-ranking Hizbul Mujahideen figure, Gazi Nasiruddin, was killed by Indian troops in January. There has been no word from the Hizbul Mujahideen about the latest police reports over the killing. The raid on the man police describe as Hizbul Mujahideen's top commander comes against the backdrop of the Indian elections which militant groups in Kashmir have been threatening to disrupt. The Associated Press news agency reports that the killing of Abdul Rashid has been confirmed by Indian Border Security Force spokesman Neeraj Sharma. The raid on the house in Srinigar, summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, prompted a gun battle in which the police say Abdul Rashid was killed - and later identified by papers found on him. Inspector General of Police K. Rajindra Kumar was quoted by the AFP press agency: "We had sealed off a house in downtown Srinagar on a tip-off and once we ringed the house an encounter broke out in which the chief commander of Hizbul Mujahideen was killed." The Indian news agency, PTI, says that police, acting on "local intelligence", had surrounded a house and that Abdul Rashid had been killed in an "exchange of fire".
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