Hizbul terrorist Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday, turned to terror after his marriage proposal was rejected.
A native of Rathsuna village in Tral in southern Kashmir, Sabzar was said to be a close friend of slain Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani.
Sabzar snatched a rifle from a policeman and joined the ranks of terrorists in April 2015 after Burhan Wani's brother, Khalid, was killed by forces in Kamla forests of Tral town.
He was named new commander of the outfit after Zakir alias Musa quit the outfit following his statement against Hurriyat leaders in the middle of this month, the police sources said.
Sabzar was given arms training in the Tral forest. However, he never crossed over to Pakistan.
TwitterIn December 2015, police announced a cash reward on a group of terrorists and Sabzar was among them. The other Hizbul terrorists who had considerable influence in the region were Zakir Musa and Saddam Padder. While Zakir quit the outfit, Sabzar Bhat took over the charge of the outfit completely.
Musa was portrayed as the new face of militancy in Kashmir Valley after Burhan wani's killing. But, the recent controversy over his statement against Hurriyat leaders, made Sabzar to win the confidence of outfit's leadership in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). He was seen as the successor to Wani.
Musa recently revolted against Hizbul after the militant outfit's top leadership dissociated from his statement in which he had threatened to behead the Hurriyat leaders for terming the Kashmir struggle as a political movement.
Sabzar had given the slip to the security forces on several occasions in the past. He escaped encounter site in Tral recently taking the cover of the darkness and heavy stone-pelting in the area.
Police said that Sabzar was responsible for local recruitment of youth in Hizbul and unlike Wani, he mostly remained underground and avoided using social network sites to issue diktats.
Sabzar had only once featured his photos and videos along with Wani which went viral on social networking sites before the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016.
According to police, Sabzar was involved in attacks on panchayat members and security forces. He was also responsible for killing civilians after branding them "police informers."