Scholar turned Hizbul Mujhadeen Commander Manan Wani has been killed in a fierce gunfight with Government Forces here in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Besides, Manan another local militant identified as Ashiq Ahmed Zargar, a resident of Tulwari Langate was also killed in the gun fight.
The gunfight raged between trapped militants and soldiers in Shatgund Qalamabad area of Handwara town. Authorities ordered the closure of all colleges and educational institutions in parts of Kashmir after the news came to fore the Manan Wani has been killed in the encounter. The authorities didn’t reveal the name of Manan for a long time, however, it dawned upon the people later on that Scholar turned militant commander Manan Wani is one among the two militants killed in the gun fight. A Police official confirmed the killing of Manan Wani. Internet was suspended in parts of North Kashmir to block information about Manan. Massive clashes erupted near gunfight site. Over a dozen protesters suffered injuries. Government Forces fired tear-smoke shells and pellets to keep protesters at bay. Clashes erupted in various parts of Kashmir after the killing.Mannan Bashir Wani, an AMU research scholar from Kupwara was in news for joining militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen earlier this year in January. Mannan is the son of Bashir Ahmad Wani. He was pursuing his PhD in applied Geology at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Mannan’s brother Mubashir Ahmad is a junior engineer.
Manan usually surfaced in some videos mostly shot in South Kashmir. He appeared in a couple of funerals of militants. Security Agencies believed that he had made South Kashmir’s Kulgam his bastion, little did they know, Manan will be killed in North Kashmir’s Handwara town.“It’s a big achievement and a great set back to militant outfit Hizbul Mujhadeen,” said a police official.Manan’s two letters went viral recently in which he vehemently supported the cause of freedom.
An FIR was lodged against CNS for circulating his letter on its web portal.The official website of the Aligarh Muslim university says that 26-year-old Mannan was pursuing a PhD on ‘Structural and Geo-Morphological Study of Lolab Valley, Kashmir’. Mannan had also received an award for the best paper presented at an international conference on ‘Water, Environment, Ecology and Society’ in 2016, according to the AMU website.“Mr Mannan Bashir Wani, Research Scholar at Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University has been awarded the ‘Best Paper Presentation Award’ in an International Conference on ‘Water, Environment, Energy and Society’ (ICWEES) held at AISECT University, Bhopal.The award was conferred to Mr Wani for his paper ‘Flood Risk Assessment of Lolab Valley from Watershed Analysis Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques’,” says AMU Website.“Around 400 delegates from 20 different countries including the USA, Austria, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, Iran, Italy, UK, Bangladesh, China, South Korea, Singapore, Kuwait, Tunisia, Malaysia, West Indies, Brazil and Yemen had participated in the Conference to present their research papers,” it adds.Meanwhile, police issued a statement with regard to the killing of Manan Wani saying that Police and Security Forces in the wee hours launched a cordon and search operation at Shartgund Bala area of Qalamabad in Handwara.During the searches, the hiding militants fired on the search party which was retaliated leading to an encounter. Consequently the civilians in the nearby areas were evacuated. Further following the SOP attempts to make the militants to surrender failed.In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed. In the operation no collateral damage has taken place.Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.
Police has registered a case in this regard and the investigation has been initiated in the instant manner. (CNS)