“The Killer Is Gone”: How Security Forces Trapped Hizb Chief Riyaz Naikoo

Most-wanted terrorist Riyaz Naikoo’s killing in a 36-hour encounter in south Kashmir marks a giant success for safety forces, which had been on the Hizbul Mujahideen commander’s path for 12 years and had been monitoring his actions carefully for the previous six months.

After a number of disappointments and false leads, the police, military and the paramilitary lastly zeroed in on their excessive worth goal at a home in a village in Pulwama’s Beighpora on Tuesday. “Our ground team was 100 per cent sure that Riyaz Naikoo was hiding in that house,” Dilbag Singh, Kashmir police chief, informed NDTV on Thursday.

This time, the Jammu and Kashmir police had been capable of penetrate Naikoo’s interior circle within the Hizbul. “We got the man who built the hideout,” revealed the officer.

“For 15 days we worked day and night. The last three days, we were almost working on a minute-to-minute, second-to-second basis.”

Riyaz Naikoo, 35, who used his tech expertise to cowl his tracks, had over a dozen hideouts within the south Kashmir area, the place he was born. He was the longest surviving terror commander in Kashmir. His luck ran out after the police tracked down his closest contacts.

“It was the result of long, long hard work. A number of times we got very close, but he got away. We approached the hideouts, went there, searched there and came back empty-handed,” Mr Singh shared.

In house-to-house searches, two potential hideouts had been marked.

When the two-day encounter began on Tuesday, one safety company pulled out of the operation when Riyaz Naikoo couldn’t be discovered throughout daylong searches. But the police remained.

“But the ground team was pretty sure. We had to believe our officers. We got the security agencies back, they stayed all night. We were 100 per cent sure he was in that house,” the police chief stated.

“The plan was you will not come back without getting him.”

Fearing protests and violence as information unfold that Naikoo was trapped, authorities lower cell web and messaging companies in Kashmir yesterday. All non-public cell networks besides the state-run cell operator had been suspended.

The forces had been ready for the chance that there have been underground tunnels in the home.

According to the police, Naikoo saved hiding the entire night time, going from room to room, as a substitute of firing again on the forces. Surprisingly for a terrorist of his notoriety, the extent of struggle was lacking, Mr Singh remarked.

The breakthrough occurred the subsequent day. At 9 am on Wednesday, Naikoo’s hideout was hit.

It was contact and go for some time, like all main safety operation. Families needed to be evacuated from the homes on track.

“There was great risk. We had serious injuries. One of our vehicles was almost broken by them with lathis as long as 12 feet as heavy as 15-20 kg,” Mr Singh stated.

The elimination of Naikoo is a crucial step within the safety forces’ struggle towards terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

The teacher-turned-terrorist had been lately provided the job of fronting an umbrella group of Pakistan-based terror outfits, TRF. The concept was to have a neighborhood like Naikoo because the joint terror commander.

“The killer is gone. The man responsible for killing a large number of civilians, migrant labour… who kidnapped and killed policemen, the killer of peace and prosperity. He is dead,” Mr Singh stated.

Naikoo had evaded the forces since 2012, throughout which era he recruited lots of of harmless younger males into terror. His demise would make an amazing distinction to native recruitment into terror, the police officer asserted.