Hizbul Commander Burhani Wani wanted more weapons in his final hours

Slain Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Burhan Wani had travelled to South Kashmir’s Kokernag area to procure weapons a day after the valley celebrated Eid on July 6. It was in Kokernag’s Bundoroo village where the 22-year-old HM commander, and two other militants, engaged in a gunfight with the Indian Armed Forces and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police. dna spoke to a few security officials to piece together the three-hour-long gunfight, which turned out to be Burhan Wani’s last showdown, transpired.

According to a senior security official, the ‘operation’ to target Burhan was initiated on July 7. A few individuals, suspected to be over-ground workers (OGWs) attached with the HM, were arrested from Awantipora area of South Kashmir. According to intel received by the J&K police, the arrested individuals were natives of a border town in North Kashmir and had travelled all the way to Awantipora to meet OGWs operating in Anantnag district. “The calls of these individuals from north Kashmir were intercepted and analysed by police units posted in the area. Their arrest led to further arrests in South Kashmir in the early morning of Friday,” said the official.

According to the official, the OGWs from north and south Kashmir were in touch with each other in order to deliver weapons to Burhan and two others accompanying him. Following the arrests made by Kashmir police on Friday morning, the security apparatus formed teams comprising Special Operation Group of J&K police and 19 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned Bundoroo village between 4 and 4.30 pm same day. Officials said that Burhan and other militants were first spotted near a local mosque. It is not yet clear if the trio was coming out of the mosque after praying but the exchange of weaponry was to take place at a house belonging to a relative of the second slain militant identified Sataj Wani.

Highly placed sources privy to details of the gunfight told dna that the encounter resumed as soon as the three militants were spotted by the security forces. Both sides, according to officials, were fully aware that there would be a violent confrontation instead of a formal arrest or surrender. Around two hours later, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who had become a militant at the age of 15, was shot dead and his pictures released in the social media.

According to an intelligence official, directive to intensify the search for Burhan and the remaining members of his group came after two developments in the last month – first being the Pampore attack in which eight CRPF personnel were killed by suspected Lashkar militant and the second being the Kashmir visit of Union home minister Rajnath Singh. “Directive to target Burhan Wani and other members of both HM and LeT were given during the visit of the Union home minister,” confirmed a senior intelligence official adding that Burhan’s death had “ended the HM group in southern parts of the valley”.

The same group had taken over the social media in Kashmir after photographs and videos of its members, including Burhan, were widely circulated by internet users in Kashmir showing the HM commander addressing and trying to connect with valley’s population, especially the youth.

While Burhan’s latest video released last week showed him playing cricket in an unknown location, suspected to be in South Kashmir, his last video address, which came out in June, had warned J&K police of violent attacks. He had further said that Indian army and not J&K police was their enemy and had even assured Hindu pilgrims going to Kashmir for Amarnath yatra that they would not be targeted.