Security forces do a U-turn, deny Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander surrendered

Srinagar: In a U-turn, senior police and army officers denied that any Hizbul commander had surrendered before the security forces on Saturday. Denying earlier reports that Tariq Pandit, a close associate of Burhan Wani, the most wanted Hizbul commander in south Kashmir, had surrendered before the security forces, Colonel NN Joshi, the Srinagar-based defence spokesman, told reporters in Srinagar: “Reports of Tariq’s surrender are absolutely baseless.” Earlier some senior police officers and even defence sources had individually confirmed to media that Tariq Pandit, a commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfit had surrendered before the security forces. It was said that Pandit’s surrender before the security forces was a big blow to militancy as he had been seen in pictures uploaded on social media with Burhan Wani wielding weapons and wearing army fatigues.