Image Source: INDIA TODAY

In a huge victory for the security forces, Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief in Jammu and Kashmir, Riyaz Naikoo was killed in an encounter in South Kashmir on Wednesday. Kashmir Zone Police said one more terrorist was killed in the encounter in Beighbora village in Pulwama district and the operation was still on. As the news of top Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo getting trapped in Beighbora was earlier confirmed, mobile internet services were suspended across the Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure. The movement of people was also restricted.
Police said Riyaz Naikoo had been on the run for eight years. He was the operational commander and chief of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The police had earlier in the day confirmed that a top terrorist was trapped in Beighbora but had not revealed his identity. As the encounter continued in Beighbora, a simultaneous gunbattle had erupted in another village in Pulwama district. Two unidentified terrorists were gunned down in that encounter. According to officials, there was a reward of Rs 12 lakh on Naikoo’s head. He was one of the most wanted terrorists in the Valley. Naikoo had become the de facto chief of Hizbul Mujahideen following the killing of Burhan Wani, who had emerged as the poster boy of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, in July 2016. Security forces had thrice in the past managed to locate Naikoo in Shopian in South Kashmir but he managed to escape on all three occasions. Officials said the anti-terror operation was launched after it was established that Naikoo was present in the village. Meanwhile, in Sharshali village, the security forces eliminated two unidentified terrorists after receiving a tip-off about their presence. A cordon and search operation was launched and an encounter ensued after the terrorists opened fire towards the security forces' positions. The duo was killed in the retaliatory fire.