Srinagar: Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) chief Saif-Ul-Islam Mir was killed in an encounter on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, police said, describing it as a huge success for the security forces. Mir, 31, also known as Dr Saifullah and Ghazi Haider, had taken command of the outfit after the killing of his predecessor Riyaz Naikoo in May this year.
He was one of the most wanted militants in the Kashmir Valley and involved in several attacks on the security forces, an official said. A police spokesman said security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Rangreth area on the outskirts of the city after receiving specific input about the presence of militants there. During the search operation, as the presence of a militant was ascertained, he was given the opportunity to surrender, but he refused and fired indiscriminately upon the forces, the spokesman said. The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter in which the militant was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of the encounter, he said.
The slain militant was identified as Saif-Ul-Islam Mir alias Dr Saifullah alias Ghazi Haider, a resident of Malangpora area of Pulwama in south Kashmir, and affiliated with proscribed outfit HM, the spokesman added. He said as per police records, Mir was the chief operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. Addressing a press conference here, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said Mir was active since October 2014 and was associated with slain HM commander Burhan Wani for a long time. His killing is a huge success for the security forces, Singh added.
“We had a successful operation today in which a top commander (Saifullah), you can say he was the number one commander of the HM, was killed. Several families will heave a sigh a relief as he was involved in killing of many people. He was active since October 2014 and was associated with Burhan Wani for a long time,” Singh said.
He said Mir was one of the dreaded militants even before taking command of the outfit. “He had killed many innocent people including three policemen. He was behind the killing of two truck drivers immediately after the abrogation of Article 370. He attacked a Sarpanch in Kulgam recently but he survived the attack.
“He also had a hand in the killing of three BJP workers in Kulgam earlier this week. He is involved in over a dozen terror cases and has killed over half-a-dozen people. He was also involved in harming several people and destroying government property, as well as involved in several grenade attacks,” the DGP said. The police chief said the security agencies were tracking the HM commander’s movement from south Kashmir towards Srinagar for the last two days. “I congratulate the Anantnag police for tracking his movement. They then shared the input with the Srinagar police and an operation was launched to neutralise him,” Singh said, adding Mir motivated dozens of youths to join the militant ranks. The DGP said Mir’s killing is a huge setback for HM as it has rendered the outfit leaderless. (PTI)
