Riyaz Naikoo, top Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist who masterminded killings of Jammu and Kashmir policemen

Srinagar: Riyaz Naikoo, one of the most-wanted terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, was on Wednesday killed by a joint team of Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir Police at his native Beighpora village of Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The forces also gunned down one os his associates during the fierce encounter.

Naikoo’s elimination is a major blow to the local terror groups active in the area, especially Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Pakistan-backed group.

The dreaded terrorist was born in April 1985 in Beighpora village of Awantipora tehsil in Pulwama district and picked up the gun at the age of 33. Before joining the terrorist ranks, Naikoo was a mathematics teacher in a private school.

Riyaz Naikoo took over as the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen after the outfit`s poster boy and commander Burhan Wani was eliminated in a gunfight with the security forces in the Kokarnag area in Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.

Security forces hold Naikoo responsible for holding Hizbul together after its possible disintegration when Zakir Musa broke away from the Hizbul ranks to form his own splinter group.

Musa split from the Hizbul in 2017 and formed his own group called Ansar Ghazwatul Hind that claimed to be the Indian affiliate of the Al-Qaeda. Musa was killed in Dadsara area in Tral tehsil in an encounter with the security forces on May 23, 2019.

Naikoo also carried a reward of Rs 12 lakh on his head. Naikoo had been masterminding the killings of local policemen to put pressure on them not to engage in anti-militancy operations.

It was because of this threat perception that policemen were advised not to visit their homes especially in South Kashmir districts where Naikoo held sway among the terrorist ranks.

With his killing, the security forces have possibly avenged the deaths of four Indian Army soldiers and a Jammu and Kasmir policeman. The five were killed in Kupwara district on May 3 during an encounter with another group of terrorists.

Naikoo, Kashmir`s most wanted terrorist, was trapped late on Tuesday in his native Beighpora village in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district.

The Hizbul Mujahideen commander and his associate were killed early on Wednesday while another terrorist was killed in a separate operation in Sharshali village of Khrew area in Pulwama district away from Naikoo`s encounter spot.

The operation to eliminate Naikoo was carried out with pinpoint precision without any collateral damage. Authorities had suspended mobile Internet across the Kashmir Valley and imposed curfew in most major towns of the valley to ensure that Naikoo`s killing does not create a law and order problem in the area.