Jammu: Ayodhya attack mastermind killed

Security personnel gunned down a top JeM militant, believed to be the mastermind behind the 2005 Ayodhya attack, in an encounter and arrested four of his associates early on Saturday.

Saifullah Kari, the divisional commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, was killed in the encounter at Janipura area of the city by a joint team of the Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir Police at around 0200 hours.

Acting on information that the JeM was planning a major attack here on the eve of Independence Day, the joint police team cordoned off Ramzan colony and raided the house of Maqsooda Begum .

A sub-inspector of Delhi police, Devinder Singh, and a Pakistani militant were also injured in the encounter.

The injured militant, Maqsooda Begum and her brother H A Siddiqi, were among the four persons arrested.

The injured SI and the militant have been admitted to a hospital.

Arms recovered

A large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives were also recovered.

Kari was the mastermind behind the Ayodhya attack in which six heavily armed terrorists, who made an attempt to storm the high-security makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, were killed before they could make it to the shrine on July 5, 2005.

The plan was jointly formulated by JeM chief Masood Azahar and Kari in Bangladesh.