Srinagar: In yet another jolt to Hizbul Mujahideen, security forces shot dead the outfit's deputy chief commander Shakeel Ansari in an encounter in downtown Srinagar, official sources said today (May 11, 2004).

Ansari was killed by the State police in a gunbattle last night (May 10, 2004) in Soura locality of the city, they said.

He was a resident of Marmat in Doda district in Jammu division, the sources said.