Srinagar: Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s operational commander in Kashmir, Saifullah Mir alias Dr Saifullah, was killed on Sunday in a brief gunfight with government forces here in Rangreth area on the outskirts of Srinagar city.
Mir, also known as Ghazi Haider, had succeeded Riyaz Naikoo after the latter’s killing in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Awantipora police district on May 6 this year.
A resident of Malangpora village in Awantipora area, Mir was considered to be a close confidante of Naikoo and had been associated with former Hizb commander Burhan Wani as well.
He had joined the militant outfit in August 2014, leaving his job at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar, where he imparted training in handling medical equipment to students.
“He was a quiet, religious man and a hard worker. He was awarded for excellence in repairing medical equipment, only months before he joined the ranks,” a member of his extended family told Kashmir Reader.
Mir was known as Dr Saifullah in militant circles for treating injured militants and arranging medical care for them, a police source in Awantipora told Kashmir Reader.
“He was the fourth Hizb chief from Pulwama district since Burhan Wani and second to be killed this year,” the police source said.
An associate of Saifullah was arrested by police during the gunfight in Rangreth. He is yet to be identitfied by the police.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar termed the killing as “a great achievement for our security forces”.
“The inputs regarding militant presence in a house in Rangreth area were received late last night and subsequently an operation was launched today,” Kumar said.
When asked about the possible security breach, given that the area of the gunfight has heavy presence of government forces, Kumar said that it was a time to celebrate and not ask questions like this.
“After the killing of Naikoo in May this year, this man was made the operational chief of Hizb. He has been killed and instead of asking how he came here, you should celebrate,” Kumar told media men right outside the site of the gunfight.
Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh, while congratulating the forces for the “success”, said that Mir was involved in the killing of 3 BJP workers in Kulgam district on Thursday.
“It is a clear message to all the terrorists that severe retribution awaits all of them for their acts of heinous crime,” Singh said.
A senior police official from Srinagar said that while the cordon and search operation was being launched, Saifullah opened fire and was soon killed in retaliatory action by the forces.
“His body, along with arms and ammunition, has been retrieved from the site and will be sent to an undisclosed location for burial after completion of medico-legal formalities,” the police official said.
There was no word on the arrested militant either from the top officials or any other police source while this report was being filed.

Suhail A Shah