Army deserter who joined LeT shot dead

Mohit Kandhari | Jammu

An Army deserter identified as Zafarullah Khan Parray, who had reportedly joined ranks of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, was killed by a joint team of security forces along with two other militants in a fierce gunfight in remote Kulhand area of Doda district on Wednesday.

However, the faces of the three slain militants were defaced beyond recognition during the intense gunfight. Local villagers identified one of them as Zaffarullah Khan Parray before claiming his body from the police, SSP Doda Prabhat Singh confirmed.

After completing the formalities, we handed over his body to the local villagers who claimed it, he further added. The two others had been identified as Abu Mohd Zulfi and Javed Mir, official sources said.

Zaffarullah, son of Ghulam Hassan Khan, resident of Beli Udrana, had deserted the Army camp of 8 Rashtriya rifles at Arnora on March 8 this year along with one Insas weapon and two AK rifles. The police and Army had launched massive man hunt to track him down but failed to do so.

Before deserting the Army, Zaffarullah had worked with the Territorial Army for as many as four years and no complaint was registered against his name.

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