A top militant commander of Hizbul-Mujahideen, chief of ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ and a longest surviving militant in Kashmir Abdul Qayoom Najar was killed in a gunfight with the army soldiers near the Line of Control in Uri, Baramulla on Tuesday, officials said.
Addressing a press conference here, general officer commanding of army’s 19 infantry division RP Kalita said: “Security agencies keep on receiving regular inputs about the infiltration of militants along the LoC in Uri. It was due to these inputs that troops foiled an infiltration bid at MaidanNallah in Uri by killing a top militant commander.”
The GOC said that as the troops noticed some movement near the fence, they challenged the militants which resulted in a firefight in which one top militant commander, later identified as Abdul QayoomNajar, was killed while his two associates managed to go back.
North Kashmir range inspector general of police, Nitish Kumar, told reporters that the relatives and the family members had identified the slain militant commander. “Najar was involved in several killings including of some civilians. His killing is a big set back to the HM outfit with whom he had sorted out differences,” Kumar said.
He said that the slain militant commander had gone to Pakistan in 2015 and taken refuge in a militant camp there.
“Najar was involved in the attack on residence of SSP Sopore in 2010 and was an IED expert. He was also involved in the mobile tower blasts across Kashmir. His killing is a big achievement for the security forces,” Kumar said.
Najar, according to police, carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
Senior superintendent of police BaramullaImtiyazHussain said that Abdul QayoomNajar was “the most dreaded militant” in Kashmir.
“Najar was involved in at least 15 killings, including that of policemen, civilians and security forces personnel,” he claimed.
“Had slain militant commander succeeded in infiltrating, it would have been a big blow for the security establishment as he had his network at Palhalan, Pattan, Bandipora, Handwara and Sopore,” Imtiyaz said.
“Soon after carrying out deadly attacks on mobile towers in 2015, Najar developed some differences with Hizb and the Hurriyat leadership. To sort out these differences, he was recalled to the base camp in Muzaffarabad in September 2015 where he remained mostly with Hizb chief Syed Sallahudin,” the SSP Baramulla said.
“After killing of top HM commanders in north Kashmir, ParvaizWani of Garoora and AijazMuzaffar and Hizb commanders in south Kashmir, Salahuddin directed Najar to return to Kashmir and take the reins of HizbulMujahideen,” the SSP Baramulla claimed.
Calling Najar as “one of the smartest militants”, the SSP said a reason behind his survival was that he “didn’t trust anyone even his associates, his wife, brother or any other family member.”
“I have not seen such a sharp and smart militant in my 18-year career,” Hussain said.
SCHOOLS TO REMAIN CLOSED IN BLA TODAY
Meanwhile, Baramulla administration on Tuesday decided to keep the schools and colleges closed in the district on Wednesday as a “precautionary measure,” an official said.
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