Top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, aide get life sentence in murder case

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives, including a Pakistani, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in Srinagar for killing a civilian in Kashmir's Sopore district.

The civilian, Suhail Ahmad Sofi, was gunned down by the two militants in March 2013. Sofi was a resident of Dobgah village in Sopore.

Senior police officer Imtiyaz Hussain tweeted: "The boy Feroz by name was killed by terrorists in a mosque and a secessionist leader back then had issued a statement saying that boy's life should have been spared if he had taken refuge in mosque. Means otherwise he was Wajib-ul-Qatal (gallows bird)."

Hussain, who was then the Superintendent of Police in Sopore, hailed the police for its investigation that led to the conviction of the two militants.

According to the police, during the course of investigation, both the militants were identified and arrested.

One of them is Naveed Baloch, who hails from Multan in Pakistan. Baloch had been operating in Sopore area as a commander of the proscribed LeT. His accomplice, Feroz Dar, a resident of Sopore, was also arrested for his involvement in the killing of Sofi.

The police said in a statement on Tuesday that circumstantial evidences collected from the scene of crime and other evidences collected by the investigating officers proved crucial in their conviction.

The court convicted both the militants and sentenced them to life imprisonment.