Junaid Ashraf Khan, son of separatist leader, killed in Srinagar encounter
A top Hizbul Mujahideen commander and the son of a senior separatist leader was among the two militants, who were killed in an overnight encounter in Srinagar. Junaid Ashraf Khan was killed along with an associate in the old city’s Nawakdal neighbourhood. Junaid is the second top Hizbul commander to be gunned down after the operational Chief Riyaz Naikoo was killed in south Kashmir in the first week of May 2020.
Dilbagh Singh, Director General of Police (DGP) said that Junaid Khan was the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and was looking after the central Kashmir area. He was wanted in several cases. The DGP said that in yesterdays’ (May 18) operation, two terrorists were killed. They have been identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan or Junaid Sehrai from Srinagar and Tariq Ahamd Sheikh from Pulwama.
The other terrorist (Tariq) had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in March and was killed in the encounter last night. Junaid was wanted in multiple criminal cases. He was the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen & was looking after central Kashmir area too: Jammu & Kashmir DGP https://t.co/GNKtrtSUCx
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020
This has been the first gunfight in Srinagar since October 2018. In October 2018, two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including a commander Mehraj-ud-din Bangroo, as well as a civilian were killed.
Junaid was a resident of Baghat Barzulla in Srinagar and joined the militant ranks on March 23, two years ago. He was the son of Chief of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai. He was also one of the last listed militants from the Srinagar district.
RELATED NEWS: Hizbul terrorist, Army jawan killed in encounter in Doda
The operation to track down Junaid Sehrai was launched on Monday (May 18) night jointly by the J-K Police and the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The police force cordoned off the Nawakadal neighbourhood of old Srinagar city after certain inputs of his presence came to the fore. Meanwhile, on May 17, another Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was killed in a village of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir in an encounter.
