Police on Sunday identified two militants who were killed in a gunfight on May 31 in Handwara area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district as top commanders of Jaish-i-Mohammad.
An official investigating the case told that both the militants belonged to Jaish-i-Mohammad outfit and have been identified as Mehmood Bhai and Waqas alias Hyder. Both the slain were residents of Pakistan, the official said. He said that the duo was involved in the killings of three persons in Kralgund area namely Ghulam Nabi Khawaja, Shahnawaz Khan and Jana. Mehmood Bhai, a top Jaish commander, who was active since 2015 and was operating in Handwara area along with Waqas was also involved in the killing of four policemen in an IED blast at Sopore on January 6 this year.
The duo was heading towards the LoC to receive the newly infiltrated group of Jaish when the gunfight broke out at Qaziabad forests in Kralgund on last Thursday.