Jammu and Kashmir police kills Hizbul Mujahideen's commander Manan Wani, aide

KUPWARA: Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Wani and his associate were killed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in northern Kashmir on Thursday. The encounter took place at Handwara’s Shatgund in Kupwara district.

A police personnel said they had specific information that Wani was present in a particular house.

“In the last 15 days, raids were conducted in our house and places of many of our relatives. They told us he is in north Kashmir. I had no idea about it. Police deceived me. They should have told me that my son was killed in an encounter. At 1:30 pm, we managed to confirm his death,” Wani's father Bashir Ahmad told ET. “He was influenced by Afzal Guru's hanging. That day, he called me from Aligarh and was very aggressive,” he said.

The police managed to conceal Wani’s identity after he was killed to control possible protest at his funeral and didn’t allow journalists to cover it. “This was a brilliant operation and we didn't even allow even a photograph to circulate on social media,” a senior police official told ET. Despite restrictions, thousands of people participated in Wani's funeral.

Wani's killing is a setback for the militant leadership as he was seen as a poster boy who could inspire more youth to join the militants, especially in his area of northern Kashmir. Wani, a PhD scholar in geology from Aligarh Muslim University, had turned militant last November.

In an online post earlier this year, he defended taking up arms by saying ‘it was necessary to fight oppression’. The government later directed portals to pull down his post.

The joint Hurriyat leadership of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik have called for shutdown against the killing on Friday.