The operation to nab Riyaz Naikoo was launched in his native Beigpora Gulazapura in Awantipora by the joint team of Jammu and Kashmir police and security forces on Tuesday night.
Top Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Riyaz Naikoo has been killed along with two more by security forces in an operation in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a senior security official said on Tuesday.
Riyaz Naikoo, who was leading the banned Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir valley, had been trapped in Beighbora village in Pulwama.
A senior police officer described Riyaz Naikoo’s elimination as a huge success. He had been on the run for eight years.
Jammu and Kashmir director general of police Dilbag Singh is supervising the operation.
Naikoo became the de facto chief of the terror group after the death of the terror group’s Kashmir commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in July 2016.
