The successor of Kashmiri terrorist Burhan Wani, Zakir Musa has been eliminated by security forces in an encounter in Tral, reports India Today. The police said that the identities of the terrorists killed have still not been verified.

An encounter ensued between terrorists and the security forces in Dadsara village of Tral in Pulwama district in south Kashmir on Thursday evening. Trapped, the chief of Ansar Gazwatul Hind, Musa, died in the gun-battle.

Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan informed that the schools and colleges across the Kashmir division will remain closed tomorrow (24 May) as a precautionary measure.

Zakir Musa, alias Zakir Rashid Bhat, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander and founder and chief of Al-Qaeda cell Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, was "part of a new generation of tech-savvy, well-educated terrorists". Son of an engineer working for the state government, Musa studied in Navodaya Vidyalaya. After completing 12th, he went to study in an engineering college in Punjab, but was radicalised. He dropped out to join the outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Later on, what was called as a rift between terrorists in Kashmir, Musa left the group after it refused to back his statements that the Kashmiri struggle was for Islam and not political.

In video clips released by him, he called the secession of Kashmir a religious battle to establish Islamic rule and impose Shariah. He also threatened to "liberate India" from the Hindus.

In August 2017, Musa had reportedly evaded an anti-terror operation with the help of locals, pelting security forces with stones in Noorpora village of Tral and was finally nabbed today in the same area.