On Wednesday morning, the Kashmir Zone Police took to Twitter to announce that an encounter had broken out in the Beighpora area of Kashmir's Awantipora. In announced that the police and security personnel were on the job.
According to follow-up updates, two terrorists have so far been killed in the encounter. News agency ANI quoted officials to add that the first of these slain terrorists had been identified as Hizbul Commander Riyaz Naikoo.
A PTI report quotes officials to say that he had been trapped in Beighpora village in Pulwama.
Considered one of the top leaders of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Riyaz Naikoo had reportedly been on the run for over eight years. He had been the operational commander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen group. While he had been cornered in the past, the terrorist had managed to escape.
According to an India Today report, the 35 year old was one of the oldest members of the terror outfit and had had a bounty of Rs 12 lakh attached to him. He had been a resident of the Awantipora district.
Naikoo, who was wanted for involvement in the deaths of several officials was believed to have taken over the group after the death of Burhan Wani in 2016.
