Police said Adil Wani killed Sunil Kumar Bhat in an orchard in Shopian on Tuesday and later took shelter at his home in Kutpora

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday initiated the process of attaching the house of a terrorist suspected to have killed a Kashmiri Pandit a day earlier, while his father and three brothers were arrested for allegedly sheltering him.

Police said Adil Wani, the suspected terrorist, killed Sunil Kumar Bhat (48), a fruit farmer, in an orchard in Shopian on Tuesday and went into hiding at his house in Kutpora.

“The security forces launched a cordon and search operation but Wani, a categorised terrorist of banned Al-Badr outfit, fled under the cover of darkness after hurling grenades at the approaching police party,” the police said in a statement.

During the search operation, police also recovered arms and ammunition from Wani’s house, prompting authorities to place his father and three brothers under arrest besides initiating the process of attaching their house, they added.

Additional director general of police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar confirmed the developments and said Wani and his accomplice will either be soon arrested or killed. “Yes, Wani’s house has been attached,” he said.

Bhat was the fourth member of Shopian’s minority community and the seventh civilian to have been shot on Tuesday since May 1, in targeted killings aimed at civilians, including migrant workers.

Police said the attack took place in an apple orchard in Chotipora village. While Bhat succumbed to injuries, his relative Pitambar Nath Bhat was injured in the attack.

While terror outfit Kashmir Freedom Fighters, which is widely seen as a front for Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Taiba, in a statement, took credit for the attack, ADGP Kumar said eyewitnesses identified Wani as one of the attackers and the second attacker as an overground worker.

Jammu & Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said the terrorists responsible for the killing will not be spared.

Police last month had attached five houses, in Srinagar, that were allegedly being used by terrorists as hideouts and a place to plan terror attacks.

Ten houses in Kashmir – in Lawaypura, Maloora, Batmaloo, Harwan, Parimpora, Panthachowk, Nowhatta and Zakoora areas – have either been seized or attached for similar reasons this year, police said.

The houses were attached under section of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for being used for terrorist activities, a police spokesperson had said earlier, adding: “These houses were being used by active terrorists as hideouts to conspire, plan and execute terror acts in Srinagar district.”

“Citizens are once again requested not to harbour or give shelter to terrorists, failing which we will be forced to take resort to attachment proceedings. In case of any forced/coercive entry by terrorists into any house, the matter should be brought to the notice of police immediately,” the spokesperson said.