Manzoor Ahmad Bhat was found dead in an orchard in Kashmir's Bandipora (Representational)

Terrorists kidnapped and beheaded a 24-year-old man in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipore to strike fear among people, the police said today. The headless body of Manzoor Ahmad was found in an orchard near his home in Hajin this morning, two days after he was kidnapped along with his father. The police say Manzoor Ahmad was beheaded by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terror group. His father Ghulam Mohammad Bhat had managed to escape the same day, but with bullet injuries.A local operative of the terror group, Mohammad Saleem Parray, is believed to be behind the beheading and a series of other civilian killings in the area.A little before noon on Wednesday, the Lashkar terrorists barged into their home and attacked the family. They dragged father and son out with them."Ghulam escaped even though he was fired upon and suffered injuries," a police official said.This is the second case this week in Hajin, once a strong counter-insurgency centre in Kashmir, now emerging as a hub of terror. On Monday night, terrorists had kidnapped and killed Nasser Ahmad or Muntazir.

There have been frequent encounters in Hajin in the past few months. A number of Lashkar terrorists were killed in security ops last year.Several security personnel including Garud commandos were also killed.