June 3, 2002	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21,1423

SRINAGAR, June 2: Indian border guards on Sunday shot dead top Islamic militant Manzoor Ahmed Ganai in Indian-held Kashmir, officials said.

Ganai, who was also called Rafiq, was the deputy chief commander of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen group and carried a bounty of Rs200,000 on his head, a spokesman of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said.

Indian border guards killed Ganai in an encounter near Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar, after being tipped off that he would be visiting the area.

The border guard spokesman said Ganai was gunned down after he tried to drive past the security cordon on his motorcycle, not heeding calls to stop.

He had been active in Indian Kashmir since 1994.—AFP