Srinagar, Aug 23 - Police in Kashmir Sunday claimed a major success with the arrest of a top functionary of the Al-Badr guerrilla group from north Kashmir's Sopore town.

Zeenat-ul-Islam Shah, son of a local clergy, Gulam Hassan Shah, and resident of Sugan village in north Kashmir's Shopian district, was the chief commander of Al-Badr group and going under the codename Zahid.

'He had taken over the reins of the outfit five years back from a foreign militant code-named Major Abdullah,' a senior police officer told IANS here.

Zahid had received training from a Pakistani militant named Sikander, the police officer said, adding that Zahid had been directly involved in the kidnapping and killing of two local policemen in 2008.

'In Shopian district, he operated jointly with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit.