Srinagar: Protest triggered across Kashmir on Friday after Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the 21-year-old commander of the terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Kokernag area of south Kashmir.
As soon as reports of Wani's killing reached his Dooru village in Sopore, hundreds of residents came out to protest shouting anti-government and pro-freedom slogans, burning tyres and stopping vehicles.
Meanwhile. Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik called for strike to protest the killing. Geelani also asked people to join Wani’s funeral in large numbers.
Burhan, who shot to fame after his videos asking youth in Kashmir to join militancy appeared on social media, was cornered in Bumdoora village of Kokernag by a joint team of police and army.
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His last video had appeared on the social network after the killing of three policemen at Anantnag in South Kashmir last month in which he had threatened to carry out more attacks.
Burhan, who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, is believed to have taken up the gun to avenge his elder brother's humiliation by the security forces who made him do squats after picking him up for no crime.
Innumerable images of Burhan and posts extolling him were uploaded on social networking sites like Facebook which the security agencies had got removed but that did not erase his popularity.
Others killed along with him were Sartaz, who is a resident of Kokernag area and was believed to have carried out several attacks on police in South Kashmir. The identity of the third was yet to be ascertained.
Earlier this year in May, another commander of the terror outfit and Wani's close aid, Tariq Pandit, had surrendered before the security forces.
