Doda becomes 'terrorist-free' after last surviving Hizbul Mujahideen commander killed in Anantnag: J&K DGP

Doda has become totally "terrorist-free" district after Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Masood was neutralised in an encounter, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said. Three terrorists, including a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, were killed on Monday morning in an overnight encounter at the Runipora Khulchohar area in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir.

The top police official said, “With today’s operation at the Khulchohar Ranipora area in Anantnag by the J&K Police along with the Rashtriya Rifle unit and the CRPF, three terrorists were neutralised. The slain militants include two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including one district commander, and another terrorist commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, identified as one Masood, who belonged to Doda.”

The official added, “Doda district in the Jammu Zone becomes totally militancy free once again as Masood was the last surviving terrorist here."

The J-K DGP said that Masood who hails from Doda district was involved in a rape case registered by Doda police and was absconding ever since."He later joined Hizbul Mujahideen and shifted his area of operation to Kashmir," he said.

Sources identified the two other terrorists as Tariq Khan of Lal Chowk Anantnag and Nadeem from Kulgam. However, an official confirmation is still awaited.  

Including the three terrorists who were killed in this encounter, the official numbers associated with slain terrorists this year in the valley have gone up to 116, which includes the seven operational commanders of different terror outfits who were gunned down.

This is the 13th encounter in the month of June. Joint security forces have killed more than 40 terrorists in the Kashmir valley this month.

The 'Hizbul Mujahideen', among all other terrorist outfits, remains the primary target of security forces. Almost every one of its top commanders, including the longest-surviving operational commander Riyaz Naikoo, was killed this year. Recently, the police had claimed that the Tral town in Pulwama district had become 'Hizbul-free'.

It is a considerably significant feat, especially since Tral had remained a hub of the Hizbul Mujahideen since 1989.

According to a top police official, a joint team of the J&K Police, the 19 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of the Indian Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had earlier launched a cordon-and-search-operation in the Runipora Khulchohar area after the police received a tip-off regarding the presence of terrorists in the area. 

The official said that as the joint team cordoned the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated upon by the joint team, thus triggering the encounter. 

Security forces have retrieved the dead bodies, along with arms and ammunition from the spot. The Indian Army has said that one AK rifle and two pistols have been recovered.