Security personnel during search operations after a top Hizbul commander, Sameer Tiger, and his associate Aquib were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district | Photo Credit: IANS

Pulwama: A day after security forces gunned down Sameer Ahmad alias Sameer Tiger, thousands of people on Tuesday attended the funeral procession of the top Hizbul Mujahideen ultra at his native Drabgam village in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. Some armed terrorists too appeared at Sameer’s funeral and offered a gun salute to the dreaded Hizbul commander. The incident shows how Pakistan proxies ‘glorify’ terrorists.

Notably, Sameer, who was killed in the encounter in Drabgam only, was said to be the brain behind a number of several killings, especially those of politicians. His elimination has been described as a major breakthrough for the security forces.

An official spokesperson said that a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) conducted searches at Drabgam village. As the security personnel were about to begin a search of the house where the militants were hiding, they were hit by a barrage of bullets. The forces responded in the same language.

"During the encounter, two militants, who were trapped inside the cordon, were neutralized and they have been identified as Sameer Ahmad Bhat alias Sameer Tiger Aqib and Mushtaq Khan, a local resident of Rajpora in Pulwama," the spokesperson added.

The banned Hizbul Mujahideen had recruited Sameer as an overground worker after he finished Class 8 studies. Before joining militancy, he was also involved in a number of stone pelting incidents.

"Besides his involvement was established in the kidnapping and killing (by gunfire) of two civilians from Qasbayar in which one civilian Bashir Ahmad Dar died instantly while another Altaf Ahmad Dar was seriously injured. Last year, he had indiscriminately fired upon a patrolling party of 44 RR besides he had also entered into the houses of civilians in south Kashmir and forced them to issue video statements against the government and security agencies," the official said.

Bhat was eliminated at around 2.15 pm on Monday.