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 Maidan Nallah 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 Qayoom Najar, 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 Baramulla Imtiyaz Hussain said that Abdul Qayoom Najar 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, Parvaiz Wani of Garoora and Aijaz Muzaffar and Hizb commanders in south Kashmir, Salahuddin directed Najar to return to Kashmir and take the reins of Hizbul Mujahideen,” 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.
Who was Qayoom Najar?
Hailing from Mamkak Sopore, Abdul Qayoom Najar, was believed to be one of the longest surviving militants in Kashmir. He was born in October 1976. He did not complete his matriculation and rather chose carpentry to earn his livelihood.
He remained a committed member of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen for more than 12 years and rose to the position of operational chief of the outfit before quitting it to form ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’.
Najar joined the militancy barely at the age of 16. He was arrested in 1992 and later released. After his release, he plunged into militancy again in 1995.
Najar operated in central and north Kashmir since 2006 and evolved a huge network of over ground workers, according to police. Najar is believed to have adopted different operational modules besides having expertise in topography of areas he operated in. He was an expert at changing his appearance.
A specialist in carrying out attacks, preparing and planting IEDs, Najar was known to be a very close aide of Syed Salahuddin. He would conduct attacks and then go into hiding for months together.
Schools To Remain Closed In Baramulla 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.
