A suicide bomber with 30kg RDX strapped to his body was killed by security forces at Gusoo village hours before he was to detonate the explosives. The bomber-to-be was Omer Maviya, a militant from Hizbul Mujhadeen.

Hours before the operation, the police started getting leads about a bomber planning to a suicide attack. Since they didn’t know his whereabouts, the policemen did the next best thing. They raided the hideout of overground worker Jahangir to ask him about Omer. A police contingent went to his house and entered the room. They saw Omer and Jahangir together.

“Omer tried to hurl a grenade , but thought the better of it. They ran towards the window and jumped out,” said Hyder. Omer turned and fired at a constable. The bullet missed the man, but the constable fired and hit Omer. “He tried to give us the slip, but we gave chase.” said Hyder. Soldiers quickly sealed exit routes.

“Near a stream, our men heard a voice. It was Omer on the phone. They trailed it and fired in that direction. One bullet hit Omer’s head and he was dead,” said Hyder.