Anantnag: One of the longest surviving militants in Kashmir, 35-year-old Naikoo taught mathematics at a private school before he joined the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in May 2012. On May 21, his association with Hizb would have completed eight years.
After working closely with Burhan Wani and Yasin Yattoo, Hizb commanders who were slain by government forces, Naikoo succeeded Yattoo alias Mehmood Gaznavi as leader of the militant outfit in 2017. Since then, Naikoo rose to become the most wanted militant in Kashmir valley with a bounty of Rs 12 lakh on his head.
Naikoo rose to fame with his use of social media and his audacious orchestration of “kidnapping day” in 2018. Dozens of policemen and their family members were kidnapped by Hizb militants to warn police against harassment of militants’ families.
During his eight years as a militant and two as the commander of the outfit, Naikoo gave the slip to government forces many a time, escaping several from cordon and search operations.
Naikoo was also known as a master recruiter who kept Hizb intact after Zakir Musa’s defection from the outfit to form the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind in early 2017.

Suhail A Shah