Mannan Wani had gone missing in January, later his photo, holding a gun, surfaced on social media.

Terrorist Mannan Wani, one of the top men of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir Valley, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kupwara. Clashes broke out in some pockets of the district after the news spread.Taking a cue from the aftermath of Burhan Wani's killing, internet service has been snapped and all the educational institutions have been closed in the Kupwara district as precautionary measure.



The encounter at Langate -- roughly 80 km from state capital Srinagar - had started after security forces launched a predawn operation after the police received a tip-off about the presence of two terrorists in a residential house in the area. Security in Jammu and Kashmir has been very tight on account of the ongoing urban local bodies elections in the state.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted:

Today a PhD scholar chose death over life & was killed in an encounter. His death is entirely our loss as we are losing young educated boys everyday. 1/2 - Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 11, 2018

Once a research scholar of the Aligarh Muslim University, Mannan Wani had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen earlier this year. He had gone missing from the Uttar Pradesh university, where he had been studying Applied Geology. A few days later, his photograph, holding what appeared to be a AK assault rifle, appeared on social media.

His decision to join the terror group had shocked friends. One wrote on social media how he had always expected Mannan Wani to make it to civil services, another referred to a paper that had won him the first prize at an international conference in Bhopal in 2016.

Even after joining HIzbul, Mannan Wani was writing articles on social justifying his decision why he chose gun over pen.

Kashmir Valley had witnessed violence for six months in 2016 following the killing of Burhan Wani, one of the known faces of Hizbul Mujaheedin on account of his penchant for uploading photos on Facebook.

The photos in which he and other terrorists were often seen in armed, dressed in combat fatigues, had security forces dubbing him the "Facebook terrorist".