Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested Javed Ahmed Mattoo, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist carrying a bounty of Rs 5 lakh, on Thursday.
Mattoo, 32, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore, is wanted in at least 11 terror-related cases in the Union territory. He is also an A++ category terrorist.
According to police, Mattoo was driving a stolen car when he was apprehended from Delhi’s Nizamuddin area. Police have also seized a loaded pistol and an extra magazine from him.
Mattoo is named in 11 known terror attack cases, including five grenade attacks and killing of at least five police personnel in sperate incidents, in Jammu and Kashmir, Special Commissioner of Police (SCP) H.G.S. Dhaliwal said.
The officer claimed that Mattoo is among the the last surviving terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and that he used to evade security agencies by changing his identity.
The National Investigation Agency had already launched a search operation for him.
A Delhi police official, on condition of anonymity, told news agency PTI that Abdul Mazid Zargar, a resident of Sopore who is currently in Pakistan, was among Matoo's associate and is involved in cross-border smuggling.
Tariq Ahmed Lone, another associate of Matoo, was a Pakistan-trained terrorist. Lone fell to death after he jumped from a bridge when he was surrounded by security forces, the officer added. , the officer said.
In a video that went viral on social media platforms ahead of Independence Day last year, Mattoo's brother Rayees Mattoo was seen waving the tricolour in Sopore.