After arrest, Hizbul commander killed in encounter: J&K police

Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday said a top commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit was killed in a gunfight with security forces after he was arrested in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson said Mehraj-ud-din Halwai alias Ubaid of Sopore, an active militant commander of Hizbul was arrested during a routine check at Watyen, Handwara. “On his disclosure multiple CASOs (cordon-and-search-operations) were launched by police, Army, CRPF and SSB,” he said.

“In one of the CASOs at village Pazipora-Renan in Kralgund, Handwara, he (ubaid) tried to pinpoint the location where he had kept his arms and ammunition. Upon reaching the disclosed hideout location, he picked up his hidden AK-47 rifle and started firing indiscriminately upon the joint search party which led to an encounter. In the ensuing firefight he got killed,” the spokesperson claimed.

As per the police statement, Ubaid was A++ category militant and was group commander of Hizbul. “He was active since 2012 and was involved in several killings in north Kashmir. He had a long crime history including attacks on Police/SFs and civilian atrocities. He was part of a group involved in various crimes and several cases were registered against him,” the statement said.

The statement reads that the slain militant commander was well acquainted with modern means of communication by which he would communicate with other militants and plan and execute militant activities on ground.

“He was instrumental in motivating and recruitment of youth into militant ranks besides raising funds for promotion of militant activities. In this connection police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated,” it added.

Earlier on June 29, a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in a similar encounter along with two other militants in Maloora area on Srinagar outskirts.

Pertinently 67 militants and 18 security forces and J&K police personnel have been killed in Kashmir since the beginning of this year.

Last year 203 militants, including 166 locals were killed by security forces across the Valley. As many as 157 militants were killed in Kashmir in 2019 while the number was 257 in 2018 which was the highest in a decade.