Top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Naveed Jatt was killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Wednesday, officials said.
Jatt was involved in killing of Shujaat Bukhari, a veteran journalist and editor of Rising Kashmir.
Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said Jatt was a Pakistan national, adding that they will write to the Union Home Ministry to inform Islamabad to take his body.
"We'll be writing to the ministry of home affairs to informing Pakistan to take the body," Singh told news agency PTI.
"As per ground verification, the chief commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Valley (Naveed Jatt) has been killed in the operation at Budgam which started last night and ended this morning," Singh told reporters.
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He said Jatt's killing, along with one of his associates, was a big success for the security forces.
"You have seen recently in south Kashmir, youths were picked up on various pretexts, branding them as informers, and shot dead or slaughtered," the DGP said.
"There were bank robberies and police personnel were targeted. People must have heaved a sigh of relief at his killing," he said.
Singh said Jatt, who had escaped from SMHS hospital, where he was taken for a medical examination, after killing two cops, was a "dreaded terrorist".
He also played an important role in motivating many people to join militancy, the officer said.
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Singh said it was extremely difficult to track down Jatt as he had escaped from the security forces' clutches more than once in the past.
"Even today, there were rumours that he has managed to escape but this time he was not lucky," he said.
Asked about Jatt's involvement in Bukhari's killing in June this year, Singh said the LeT commander was one of the suspects in the case.
"Such evidence about the involvement of the militant can be corroborated if you catch him alive. But it was difficult to catch him alive," he said.
"If he had been caught alive, we would have perhaps got more leads to corroborate as to what kind of involvement he had. Now we can say that the prime suspect has been neutralised," he added.
Jatt and his associates were killed in a gun battle that broke out after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Budgam following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.
The militants opened fire at the security personnel carrying out searches and the forces retaliated, he said.
Internet services in Budgam have been snapped as a precautionary measure.
(With inputs from PTI)
