Of the 242 militants killed this year so far in Jammu and Kashmir, a staggering 42 per cent of them were gunned down in the last three months alone, clearly indicating a more recent increase in counterinsurgency operations. While the encounters have been termed part of the Centre’s existing crackdown on militant groups, the latest Home Ministry data with Newslaundry shows that the spike in militant killings took place after the abduction of 11 family members of six policemen by the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).

The militant group had taken the civilians from five districts of south Kashmir. in retaliation to alleged harassment of their family members by the local police, according to audio clips and messages released by the Hizb on social media platforms.

What does the data say?

According to the latest government data accessed by Newslaundry, this year, 242 militants have been killed in gunfights across the Kashmir Valley. November has been the bloodiest month of all, with 38 militants gunned down, followed by September when 36 militants were killed. In October, 28 militants were killed, bringing the total number of militants slain in the last three months to 102. In the first six months of 2019, 103 militants were killed by government forces.

What changed in August?

In July, after the fall of the BJP-PDP coalition government, 12 militants were killed. However, an increase in the anti-militancy as well as cordon and search operations was witnessed in the Valley in August when 25 militants were killed. But the events on the last day of August ushered Kashmir into one of the bloodiest phases of the year, and perhaps of the decade.

In June, the family members of HM’s Tral commander, Hammad Khan, were arrested. “Soon after, we received an intelligence input that family members of police officials living in South Kashmir might be targeted by militants,” said a senior police officer requesting anonymity. According to the police officer, HM’s field operations commander Riyaz Naikoo and his now slain deputy Altaf Dar (alias Altaf Kachroo) formulated a plan to pressure law enforcement authorities at the lower levels, i.e. SPOs.

On August 28, the HM acted on their plan, when Asif Rather—son of a police officer—was abducted in south Kashmir’s Tral, home to former Hizb commander Burhan Wani. Meanwhile, relatives of many militants were taken into custody by the police for questioning, including 58-year-old Asadullah Naikoo, the father of Riyaz Naikoo. In the next 48 hours, 11 civilians were taken hostage by the militant group from Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Awantipora districts.

Subsequently, government forces conducted numerous raids; however, none of the hostages were rescued. “We had inputs on the locations of some of the hostages but didn’t want to take action as it would have put the civilian’s life in danger,” said a senior police officer privy to the case.

Eventually, the police released all those who were detained and the hostages too were released. Senior police officials haven’t delved much into the fact as to whether or not the releases on both sides were a result of some sort of unofficial talks between the militants and authorities.

Nevertheless the abductions were considered a massive intelligence failure by many in the security apparatus. A senior home ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the abductions triggered the transfer of former J&K police director general SP Vaid.

The aftermath

“I was released after more than 24 hours. I had no idea of the abductions,” Asadullah Naikoo, Riyaz Naikoo’s father, told this reporter. All the hostages were eventually released but only after the senior Naikoo was released from police custody, a development which many here saw as a psychological victory for the Hizb. However, Vijay Kumar, senior IPS officer and currently the advisor to the governor, had told this reporter in September, “The J&K police continues to be in good shape. The police are spearheading the anti-insurgency operations in the Valley and have been greatly successful “.

The governor-led state administration and the Centre undertook a slew of measures, including salary hikes, to raise the morale of the J&K police, according to one state government official. However, it seems that the biggest step taken by the Centre and the state was to up the ante against the militants, especially the HM. The number of militants killed this year—242—has surpassed last year, when the number stood at 213. It’s the highest in a decade. In 2008, 339 militants were killed, followed by 239 militants in 2009.

But another senior officer said there was no official direction to increase or decrease the pace of anti-insurgency operations in the Valley. The officer, however, did acknowledge that the discussions on “targeting of police and families” had long-term repercussions on police personnel.

In late September, militants uploaded pictures of over one dozen SPOs on social media, asking them to post videos of themselves resigning from the police force—or face consequences. As a result, over two dozen SPOs posted “resignation videos”, particularly in south Kashmir, prompting the government to shut down the Internet in the areas.

According to an intelligence officer, the inquiries into this targeting of SPOs brought them face-to-face once again with what had started it all in June—Hammad Khan.

Who is Hammad Khan?

In Seer village of Tral, Fayaz Lone’s family of four was about to call it a night when they heard a knock on their metal door.  

After their eldest son, Omer, had joined the HM in the summer of 2016, aggressive night raids by government forces were a common occurrence. But judging the tone of the knock, those visiting the Lone family that night were not among the forces.

The senior Lone answered the door while his wife, younger son and daughter watched from a distance. Among the half-a-dozen people that entered the Lone residence was Omer, dressed in military fatigues, and now better known by his nom de guerre Hammad Khan.

“We called him Saeba at home,” said Misra Begum, Khan’s mother, adding that the meeting did not last more than two or three minutes. She said he had wanted to pursue a degree in hotel management but instead chose to “pick up arms”.

Hammad Khan’s mother, Misra Begum.

She said: “It was 10 months since I had seen him last. That is when he became a militant. I was in such a poor mental state that I couldn’t process that it was my son standing in front of me. He said, ‘It’s me, Saeba,’ and I responded, no, you are not. Then he gently lifted his hands towards me and asked me to touch them so that I could believe him. I did so and the next moment I fell to the ground.” Before she knew it, the men, including her son, left and disappeared into the night.

For the police, Omer has emerged as a major challenge in Tral, the same place where Burhan Wani popularised the modern insurgency in Kashmir. “He has six militants under his command at the moment,” a senior police officer said, adding that Omer had gained expertise in publishing “literature” against the state.

While Hammad is not as popular as Burhan, his way of handling himself has certainly helped fill some of the void left after Wani’s killing in July 2016. Always dressed in military fatigues, Hammad first made his way into the public imagination when a picture of him brandishing an automatic LMG went viral on social media last December. In June, over a dozen of his relatives were arrested by the police and were let off after a few weeks, his other family members said.

The photo of Hammad that went viral.

He is currently among the most high-profile militant commanders in the Valley, thus making him a major target. When asked what future she sees for her son, Misra Begum responded, “He has chosen this path for the sake of Allah. Now we want him to succeed in his path, whatever it is, because he is not only our son now, he is the son of the nation, of the entire world. He is the son of any and every family or person with whom he spends his days and nights.”