New Delhi: A terror suspect identified as Rizwan Asad Pandit of Awantipora, Pulwama died in police custody on Tuesday.

Sources said that Rizwan was lodged in the CARGO camp of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. 

According to police Rizwan had a militancy background. He was picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Kashmir.

NIA emphatically denies reports linking NIA with Rizwan Ahmed resident of Awantipora. He was neither called for questioning nor was he examined at any other location in connection with cases being investigated by NIA.

Police are ascertaining the facts about the death. 

The state has been riven by terrorism and in what was the biggest terrorist attack on the Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama on February 14, killing over 40 jawans. 

Also read: Pulwama CRPF massacre: Annihilate the terrorists

This elicited a robust response from India which sent fighter jets across the Line of control (LoC) twelve days after the Pulwama attack and reportedly destroyed terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing close to 300 terrorists.  

Also read: All guns blazing: How India responded to Pulwama terrorist attack

 The security forces have hit the terrorists hard in Jammu and Kashmir over the past year or so registering over 200 kills.