Calls it a big achievement for government forces in the Valley
Srinagar, J&K —
Inspector-General of Police (Kashmir), Vijay Kumar while speaking to the reporters here in Srinagar city said that Hizbul Mujahideen’s chief operational commander for the Valley, Dr Saifullah has been killed by the government forces in a gunfight that erupted in Rangreth area.
Speaking to media, IGP Kumar said that on the basis of a specific lead, joint teams of Police and CRPF laid a cordon at Rangreth area and later Army also joined the operation.
“I am 95 per cent sure that the militant killed in the gunfight is Hizb chief operational commander Dr Saifullah who had taken over the reins of Hizb after the killing of its former chief Reyaz Naikoo in an encounter in May this year,” the IGP said.
He added a suspect and not the militant has been arrested at the encounter site who is being questioned. Earlier, there were rumors that a militant was captured alive.
“The encounter is almost over. We are sanitizing the area and clearing it as there may be some leftover grenades et cetera,” he said.
“It’s a big success as he was the chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. He had taken over the control of the outfit after the killing of Reyaz Naikoo. So it’s really a very big achievement,” the IGP said.