Hizbul commander’s father detained during night raid

The father of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo was arrested by security forces during a night raid in Awantipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday.

Reports said forces raided the Naikoo's residence at Beighpora and detained his 70-year-old father Asadullah. A police officer confirmed that Asadullah was detained for questioning.

Reports said over 10 youths were also detained by the security forces during night raids in several villages of Pulwama district.

Earlier, suspected militants abducted the son of a policeman from his home at Pinglish village of Tral in Pulwama late on Wednesday evening. Sources said that the group of masked militants barged into the house of policeman Rafiq Ahmad Rather and abducted his son Asif. Rafiq is currently posted in Srinagar and his abducted son is a B.Sc Agriculture student.

In a separate incident, families of two active militants in Shopian district alleged that security forces set their houses ablaze on Wednesday night. These incidents occurred a few hours after four policemen and two militants, including a top Hizbul commander, were killed in two separate incidents in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Shopian districts on Wednesday.

There has been a surge in violence across Kashmir in the last few days with security forces stepping up anti-militancy operations while ultras repeatedly attacking policemen and pro-India political activists.