Burhan Wani's family wanted him to surrender: Home Ministry
A Home Ministry official has revealed that the family of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen's slain commander Burhan Wani wanted him to surrender. Wani's relatives sought police intervention in 2013 after he left his home in 2010 and joined militancy at the age of 15. Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8 last year.
Long before young Burhan Wani became the poster boy of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), he fled from his home on 16 October 2010 and became a militant at the age of 15. He had reportedly decided to join the militancy due to an incident in which security personnel beat up his elder brother Khalid wani. It was in the summer of 2013, when Burhan Wani's relatives approached the then DG Ashok Prasad, appealing for the cops to intervene. Sources said that close relatives of Burhan Wani approached the top cop, asking for intervention. Burhan till then was not a top militant and not even in the top 10 most wanted terrorists. The family was asked to get in touch with SP Awantipora. The matter became inconsequential till Burhan rose to the ranks and eventually become its Commander. Ashok Prasad now advisor to MHA and an official spokesperson confirmed the incident with India Today. While Burhan's brother Khalid was eventually killed by security forces in April 2015 when he had gone along with three friends to meet his brother.WANI'S BROTHER A MILITANT SYMPATHISER The security forces claimed that Khalid was a militant sympathiser who had taken his friends to get them recruited and was killed in an encounter by the security forces. Burhan Wani  eventually became a poster boy of HM, featuring in several videos and photos posing with weapons and taunting security forces. These were circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp in an attempt to recruit young Kashmiri men. Reportedly his star power helped him to recruit nearly 100 Kashmiri youth. Though before his death there were several campaigns against him, labelling him as an Indian agent till the time he was killed by SOG and 19 RR in a fierce encounter in Kokernag in South Kashmir. Also Read:Zakir Musa hails Burhan Wani in new video, says slain Hizb commander wanted 'caliphate' in Valley 