11 Facts About Hamid Gada

Abdul Hamid Bhatt was a commander in the Islamist militant organisation Hizbul Mujaheddin.

Hamid Gada was killed in an encounter on 13 March 2000 by Indian security forces.

Hamid Gada had been called "Jammu and Kashmir's most important terrorist leader" by Indian journalist Praveen Swami, responsible for the massacres of numerous Kashmiri Hindus, including the 1998 Wandhama massacre.

Hamid Gada's family had worked at the Tulmulla temple for generations.

Hamid Gada's brother, Fayyaz Bhatt was a police officer with Jammu and Kashmir Police's Special Operations Group.

Unlike his father and brother, Hamid Gada was influenced by Jamaat-e-Islami and their propaganda and eventually joined Hizbul Mujaheddin in 1992.

Hamid Gada Bhat stole their rifles and handed them to a friend who passed them on to central reserve police force.

Hamid Gada's mother was found naked, badly beaten and incoherent days later.

For reasons no one in the family quite understands, Hamid Gada Bhat chose to stay on with his captors.

Hamid Gada was, perhaps, unable to face humiliation of what had happened to his mother.

Hamid Gada tried to take corrective measures, distancing himself from the Pakistani cadres in Hizbul, but it was too late.