Jammu: Riyaz Naikoo - a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, on the run for eight years, was killed in an encounter with security forces in his home village in Kashmir's Pulwama district on May 6. Naikoo, who was carrying a bounty of Rs 12 lakh on his head, was active in the Valley for last 8 years.


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According to intelligence bureau, he was the only Hizbul commander who was in touch with terror outfit chief Salahuddin in Pakistan. The agency added the security forces in the Valley were closely monitoring Naikoo's movement and destroyed his dozen hideouts in the last few months. Going by the police record, Naikoo, apart from being active in terror-related activities, was also involved in the kidnapping and murder of several Jammu and Kashmir police personnel.


How the Operation Naikoo unfolded: 


The Operation Naikoo wasn't easy for Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and Indian Army who neutralised the Hizbul Operational Commander in a joint encounter. The teams had put in use both human as well as technical intelligence to track the dreaded terrorist for several months before shooting him down.


A special team of Jammu and Kashmir Police under the guidance of Deputy Inspector General south Kashmir Range Atul Goyal was formed. Goyal had spent several years of his career in NIA before returning to the JKP cadre. The team quietly worked on the operation for several months. Speaking about it, Inspector General Vijay Kumar said, "For six months, we collected intelligence info on Naikoo. The forces busted dozens of his hideouts in the Valley. We had teams that worked day and night and slept barely for 2-3 hours a day."


A small team of security forces was first sent to Beighpora village in Awantipora which was joined by an additional force of CRPF.


"​On the first day, we could not find anything in the Beighpora village; however, we continued to cordon off the area along with the search operation. The next day, terrorists who were holed up in the village, opened fire on the forces, leading to retaliation from forces," the police said.


The security forces succeeded in tracing out Naikoo in the area. At least six bases of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen commander was busted after which the security forces nabbed him at the seventh. The Jammu and Kashmir police, however, dismissed media reports that stated that police found Naikoo was found hiding inside a tunnel during the operation. 


According to IG Vijay Kumar, Naikoo used to release videos which were aimed to incite youth. "He had a special power to influence the youth and engage them in terror activities," he said. 


In the last four months, security forces have carried out at least 27 counter-terrorism operations, killing 64 terrorists so far. This includes Jaish-e-Mohammad's Qari Yasir, Burhan Koka of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind and Riyaz Naikoo in the latest.


Revealing the numbers, the police said they have arrested 25 active terrorists and 125 overground workers and their close aides in recent times. The forces said the killing of Lashkar commander Haider in Handwara last week was a major success. They said that Haider was the backbone of Lashkar-e-Toiba in north Kashmir.