Top Hizb commander Riyaz Naikoo killed in encounter
SRINAGAR/NEWDELHI: Riyaz Naikoo, 35, a top terrorist of the Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with security forces at his village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said on Wednesday, announcing a major breakthrough that is expected to weaken the homegrown terror group significantly.
Naikoo, who carried a ~12 lakh reward on his head, was among four militants killed in Pulwama after security forces launched three separate, coordinated operations in a 25km radius on Tuesday night and early Wednesday after inputs that the Hizbul operational commander could be hiding in the area. People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that according to inputs Naikoo was visiting his family on Tuesday; he is believed to have stayed overnight at a hideout in Awantipora’s Gulzarpora Beighpora village.
Naikoo, also known as Zubair ul Islam and Bin Qasim, who emerged as the face of the Hizbul in the Valley and propagated radicalism through audio and video messages on social media — much like his predecessor Burhan Wani — and another terrorist were shot dead after a fivehour gunfight. The people familiar with the matter said that in June, he would have completed eight years as a terrorist with the Hizbul Mujahideen.
The people added that the Kashmir Police’s anti-militancy unit, Special Operations Group, knew he was going to be in the village and also that he was going to spend the night there. Late on
Tuesday itself, a contingent of J&K Police and troopers from the 21 Rashtriya Rifles surrounded the village. They launched their operation in the early hours of Wednesday. A firefight ensued. When it was over, the terrorist and his associate were found in the bunker. Both died of gunshot wounds. “It is a major success for the security forces in Kashmir,” a senior J&K police officer said on condition of anonymity.
A police statement said Naikoo was involved in the killing of a panchayat sarpanch’s father, Haji Ghulan Mohd Dar, in 2014, that of head constable Ashiq Hussain Mir, and more recently, the murder of migrant workers and truck drivers.
Authorities suspended mobile internet and SMS services soon after the encounter, fearing the circulation of provocative messages and an overall deterioration in law and order situation. Additional forces were deployed in the four districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, considered the hotbed of militancy.
After the July 2016 killing of Wani, stone-pelting mobs descended on streets and clashed with security forces, resulting in the deaths of 75 civilians and two law enforcement personnel in four months in one of the most turbulent phases in militancy in Kashmir.