Tuesday, May 9 2006 10:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: In a major breakthrough, Jammu and Kashmir police today (May 9, 2006) gunned down one of the main conspirators behind the March 7 Varanasi blasts in an encounter in north Kashmir's Handwara area.

Zubair, a resident of Bharaich, Uttar Pradesh, was shot dead in a fierce gunbattle with the police, Inspector General, Police (Kashmir Range) K Rajendra told sources

"We had a specific input about him at least a month back and we were trailing him ever since. He could have been trying to flee to Pakistan," Rajendra said.

Zubair was a member of the outlawed Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islamia (HuJI), which is operating from Bangladesh.

The twin blasts in the Sankatmochan temple and the Cantonment Railway station of the temple city of Varanasi had left close to 20 dead and nearly 100 injured.