Sabzar Ahmed Bhat took over the Hizbul reins in May 2017 after Musa quit Hizbul, but was killed within a week. His successor Yasin Itoo was killed in an encounter on August 13. "J&K police always had good ground intelligence but were earlier tied up in controlling local protests including stone-pelting. However, after phone surveillance led to the elimination of many terrorists, a directive from top commanders asking cadres to junk their phones dried up the technical trail. "It is now essentially human intelligence by J&K police that is helping us," said an intelligence operative.

Source: Economic Times September 14, 2017 21:16 UTC