Hizbul Mujahideen chief Naikoo killed in J&K encounter

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 6

Hizbul Mujahideen’s 35-year-old chief operations commander Riyaz Naikoo was killed along with his associate at Beighpora village in South Kashmir’s Awantipora sub-district today.

Naikoo, who carried a reward of Rs 12.5 lakh on his head, had been on the run for the past eight years. J&K Police chief Dilbagh Singh said Naikoo had been posting audio and video clips on social media to motivate youth to join militancy.

• From suave schoolteacher to most-wanted Hizb commander
• Naikoo evaded arrest for 8 yrs, shot in native village

Naikoo’s killing comes days after the security forces suffered heavy casualties recently.

The operation to track Naikoo was launched on Tuesday morning following a tip-off. Searches continued during the day and in the evening, the forces dug up suspected locations in and around the village with excavators to look for a possible militant hideout.

Contact with militants was established this morning. The ensuing four-hour gunfight resulted in the killing of Naikoo and another militant. Two houses were also damaged during the encounter.

“He (Naikoo) was responsible for a large number of youths joining militant ranks and indulging in serious violence against locals and forces,” DGP Singh said, adding that “he was directly involved in many killings”.

Fearing widespread protests following the killing of Hizb commander, the authorities suspended mobile Internet and mobile telephony across the Valley. There were reports of clashes at some places in Awantipora.

In another operation in the same sub-district, two unidentified militants were killed in a gunfight at Shaar-Shaali. “As forces zeroed in on a suspected area, militants holed up there opened fire on the forces, triggering an encounter,” a police officer said. Srinagar-based defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia later confirmed the death of two terrorists.

Carried bounty of Rs12.5L on head

• Riyaz Naikoo, who joined Hizbul Mujahideen in 2012, was a close aide of Burhan Wani
• He carried a reward of Rs12.5 lakh on his head and had been on the run for the past eight years

Operation spread over 2 days

Tuesday 11 am: Joint forces carry out search at Beighpora, Awantipora, after a tip-off that Naikoo was in the village to meet ailing mother

7 pm: Forces bring excavators and undertake digging to look for any underground hideouts

Wednesday 8:45 am: Suspected house located

9 am: Gunfight erupts between forces and militants

2 pm: Firing stops. Bodies of Naikoo, another militant retrieved from the encounter site