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Hizbul Mujahideen commander killed day after capture in J&K
Srinagar: A top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander, Mehrajuddin Halwai, was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday, hours after he was captured, police said
Srinagar: A top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander, Mehrajuddin Halwai, was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday, hours after he was captured, police said. Halwai was killed in an exchange of fire when he was taken to locate weapons at a hideout and he allegedly picked up his rifle and started firing at security forces, said officials familiar with the matter.
“One of the oldest and top commanders of HM terror outfit, Mehrajuddin Halwai alias Ubaid, got neutralised in the Handwara encounter. He was involved in several terror crimes. A big success,” said Inspector General of Police (Kashmir), Vijay Kumar.
Police said Halwai was a contemporary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in 2016.
Halwai was apprehended at a checkpoint at Watyen Handwara on July 6, after he allegedly behaved suspiciously, the police said in a statement, adding that a grenade was also recovered from his possession.
According to the police, Halwai was taken to the village of Pazipora Renan Kralgund Handwara on Wednesday, where he tried to pinpoint the location where he had kept his arms and ammunition.
“Upon reaching the disclosed hideout location, Halwai 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, the said terrorist got killed,” said the statement.
Police said they have recovered arms and ammunition, including one AK-47 and four magazines, from the hideout. They added Halwai was a categorized A++ militant and was the group commander of HM. A diploma holder in computer applications, Halwai was responsible for “misusing social media and new methods of communication” for militancy, police said.
“He was active since 2012 and was involved in several killings in north Kashmir. He had a long terror crime history including attacks on police, other security forces, and civilian atrocities,” the statement said. It listed a series of attacks in which Halwai and his associates were involved. The statement added the attacks led to the killings of 10 persons including five policemen. “The killed terrorist was well acquainted with modern means of communication by which he would communicate with other terrorists and plan & execute different terror activities on the ground. He was instrumental in motivating and recruitment of youth into terrorist ranks besides raising funds for the promotion of terrorist activities.”
This is the third such encounter since June 3.
On June 29, a day after the arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Nadeem Abrar Bhat, police said he was killed in an exchange of fire on Srinagar’s outskirts.
On June 3, police said Amin Malik, a resident of south Kashmir’s Tral, was killed in an overnight joint operation after his arrest on May 30. Police claimed he got hold of the service rifle of a constable and fired indiscriminately, critically wounding the constable.
