"I want him dead," said a Kashmiri young woman in her early 20s as she walked into a senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer's chamber one fine day last year. She wanted Jaish-e-Muhammad's operational commander Khalid killed.

"I will lead you to his tracks, you do the rest (in killing him)," she told the police officer.

After a brief encounter, Khalid was killed by the security forces today in north Kashmir. The woman was Khalid's former girlfriend with several midnight trysts.

WHY SHE WANTED KHALID DEAD?

A year ago, the woman discovered that she was pregnant. She revealed this to Khalid with great joy expecting him to be as excited as she was. But, his answer left her heartbroken. Khalid told her that he wanted to do nothring with either her or the child in the womb.

Scorned, she left with a cousin to Jalandhar in Punjab, where the unborn child was clandestinely aborted.

She came back enraged and determined to eliminate the man. She believed that Kahlid used her and led to her humiliation and death of her unborn child.

WOMAN ON MISSION

The woman's resolve for revenge made sure that Khalid's days were counted. There were several close calls with the near-kill escape for the terrorist with a long run of eight years.

Khalid had been the mastermind behind several of Jaish-e-Muhammad's deadly fidayeen attacks over the years. He had been sending in terrorist from north to south Kashmir.

Khalid kept the pot boiling for Pakistan in Kashmir Valley. He was behind a dozen attacks in north Kashmir mostly in Sopore, Baramulla, Handwara and Kupwara.

Khalid though retained a lover-boy image, and even at the time of his death reportedly had three-four girlfriends.

TIP-OFFS AND FINAL ENCOUNTER

Some time back, the woman gave concrete information about Khalid's presence at a particular location. However, the police party reached the spot and began cordon operation only after he had left.

This time too, the Jammu and Kashmir police got information from sources close to the woman. A covert team waited for Khalid's entry in Sopore.

Khalid had come to meet an important contact. He fired indiscriminately but Special Operations Group (SOG) retaliated quickly injuring him. The firing lasted only four minutes.

Khalid managed to reach a residence, close to a government school in Ladoora. Cordoned and cornered, the Jaish-e-Muhammad chief in Kashmir was neutralised by the SOG, 3 battalions of CRPF (179, 177, 92) and 32 Rashtriya Rifles (RR).

With Khalid's killing, a reign of terror came to an end in Jammu and Kashmir.