How a false ceiling nailed the most wanted militant

Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo, one of the Valley’s most wanted militants, died in an encounter.

One day later Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo, one of the most wanted militants in the Valley, was killed in an encounterJ&K police sources said they found him hiding in the attic of a house in Beighpora, his hometown in southern Kashmir.

Giving details of the joint security forces operation that led to Naikoo’s murder, police sources said Commander Hizbul Mujahideen was hiding in the attic that had been covered with a false ceiling.

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A police officer who entered the house saw a new nail in the roof covering. The officer called and it was when the shots were fired, sources said.

Security forces appeared in Beighpora after a phone call Naikoo made to an Earth Worker (OGW) was traced back to the village: he rarely used a phone, relying on the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to communicate.

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“In the past few days, we had collected several OGWs for questioning,” a police officer familiar with the operation told The Indian Express. One of the OGWs, the officer said, had reset his phone and that caused the police to question him extensively.

He eventually led police to a group of houses, but Naikoo could not be traced despite the records, the sources said.

On May 5, the police shared their intelligence with other security forces, and a joint operation was launched. Without ruling out the possibility that Naikoo was in an underground hideout, bulldozers were also brought along.

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“We searched two houses but couldn’t find it. We were waiting for an underground hideout. We shifted our focus to a third house that belonged to his relative. We searched for it three times but couldn’t find it. A police officer entered the last time and saw a roofing sheet with a new nail. It hit and there were shots from inside, ”said the officer.

Naikoo and an associate, identified as Adil Ahmad of Shopian, were killed in the shooting that followed. They were buried Wednesday night in Sonamarg.

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