Riyaz Naikoo killing: Mobile telephony, Internet suspended in Kashmir

Anticipating a law and order problem following the killingof top Hizb commander Riyaz Naikoo, authorities on Wednesday suspended mobiletelephone services of private operators and mobile internet services across theValley.

Security forces engaged with militants in two gunbattles inthe south Kashmir district, one in Sharshalli village where two unidentifiedmilitants were killed and the other in Beighpora in Awantipora where theykilled Naikoo who was holed up with another militant.

   

His accomplice attempted to escape by charging at securityforces but was also killed.

The killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander comes threedays after eight security personnel, including two Army officers ColonelAshutosh Sharma and Major Anuj Sood, were killed in Handwara.

News of the killing of 35-year-old Naikoo, who carried areward of Rs 12 lakh on his head and had escaped the police dragnet thrice, ledto some incidents of people pelting stones at security forces. However, thiswas handled with care to ensure there was was no collateral damage, an officialsaid.

Giving details of the operation, officials said securityforces zeroed in on Naikoo’s hideout on Tuesday. But instead of initiating animmediate operation, the security forces fortified their cordon around the areaand plugged all escape routes so he could not escape as he had done thriceearlier.

Army units were pushed along with the special operationsgroup of Jammu and Kashmir Police at dawn, the officials said. A gunfight brokeout after Naikoo and his accomplice fired at the security personnel.

CRPF and police forces laid an outer cordon to keep thepublic away from the encounter site.

Shortly after noon, one of the militants came out from thehouse firing indiscriminately at the security forces in his attempt to escape.However, he was shot dead in the retaliatory fire.

It was not immediately known whether that was Naikoo or hisaccomplice.

A police spokesperson said earlier in the morning that a topmilitant commander along with an accomplice was trapped in an encounter but didnot reveal his identity. Later in the day, officials disclosed that the man intheir sights was Naikoo, the man they had been looking for for eight years.

He became the de facto chief of the militant group after thedeath of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of militancy in the Valley, in July 2016.

In a separate encounter at Sharshali village, two militants,who are yet to be identified, were killed in an encounter with security forces.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of militants in thevillage, security forces launched a cordon and search operation. It turned intoan encounter after militants opened fire towards security forces’ positions,officials said.

The forces retaliated, killing the two militants, they said.

Naikoo’s death must not used as an excuse by some to putmore people in “harm’s way by provoking violence and protests”,former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Twitter.

Abdullah said Naikoo’s destiny was decided the moment hepicked up the gun and adopted the path of violence.

“His death must not be used as an excuse by some to putmore people in harms way by provoking violence & protests,” he said.

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