India arrests founding member of Kashmir's largest militant group

Srinagar: Indian police arrested a senior guerrilla leader and founder member of Kashmir's largest militant group on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the insurgency in the disputed Himalayan region, police said.

Mohammad Ahsan Dar, former chief and founder member of Hizbul Mujahideen was arrested in a raid near Sumbal area north of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital.

Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest and most active militant group in Kashmir for almost two decades, wants Kashmir to become part of predominantly Muslim Pakistan. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan both claim the region in full but rule it in part.

"He was trying to promote co-ordination between ... militant organisations in the state," Abdul Gani Mir, Deputy Inspector General of police told reporters.

"Dar's arrest is setback to Kashmir militancy."

The Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, is blamed by New Delhi for the November attacks in Mumbai.

Earlier on Wednesday, two policemen and two members of Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in a firefight in Rajouri, an area of south Kashmir, police said.

Violence has fallen significantly across the region since India and Pakistan began slow-moving peace talks in 2004, but New Delhi paused that dialogue after the Mumbai attacks.