Third militant killed in Hakoora gunfight was from Telangana

Toufeeq was radicalised into the Islamic State ideology through social media and went to Kashmir to participate in terrorist activities of the ISIS, according to the statement.

Twenty-six-year-old Toufeeq was among three militants killed in an encounter at Hakkora area of Anantnag district of South Kashmir on March 11. "He was not wanted in any of the criminal cases in Telangana", he said. "Further details are being verified and will be updated to the media accordingly".

The senior superintendent of police, Anantnag, had earlier flashed a letter to the DGP of Telangana informing him about the killing of three militants in the encounter in the district's Hakura village and seeking the information on the third militant who, he said, was probably from Hyderabad. While asking them to share the details, the Jammu and Kashmir police had given the name of Mohammed Taufeeq alias "Sultan Zabul Al Hind".

On February 25, militants killed a policeman Farooq Ahmad Yatoo who was guarding house of Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi at Soura, in Srinagar and the IS had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Al Qaeda's Kashmir cell Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, which is led by Zakir Musa, had claimed that Toufeeq from Hyderabad had joined jihad previous year after migrating from Hyderabad to the mountains of Kashmir. He reached the valley in 2017 and joined the outfit. In the process, he managed to come in contact with Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGUH) - an organisation allegedly having links with the al-Qaeda in Kashmir.

Police sources said Taufeeq's last rites were performed in a graveyard at Baramulla district in Kashmir on Tuesday night as no one claimed the body.

Ansar Ghazwatul Hind, a militant outfit, has owned the third militant killed in the Hakoora gunfight on Monday night.