Jammu, Oct. 24 -- Five months after eliminating Zakir Musa, chief of Ansar Ghazwat-Ul-Hind - a group affiliated with al-Qaeda - a joint team of security forces on Tuesday evening gunned down his successor Hamid Lelhari in Awantipora area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district.

After the successful operation, which was conducted on receipt of specific intelligence input about the presence of three terrorists in the area, the security forces identified the prize catch on Wednesday morning.

Confirming the elimination of one of the top commanders in the Valley, the State police chief Dilbag Singh at a Press conference announced, "The Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind terror outfit has been wiped out with the elimination of Hamid Lelhari."

He said, some e...