[a] He had become a popular figure amongst the local Kashmiri populace, having done so primarily through a strong social media presence, and was responsible for moulding the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir into a youth-oriented movement.

[10] As a militant leader, Wani was actively sought by Indian security forces, who had imposed a bounty for his capture.

He was located in a remote village in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir and subsequently killed in a firefight with Indian forces on 8 July 2016.

[20][21] Wani was born in 1994 in Dadasara, a village situated on the outskirts of the town of Tral, in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, to Muzaffar Ahmad Wani, the principal of a public higher-secondary school, and Maimoona Muzaffar, a postgraduate of science who taught Quran classes in her village.

[26] Burhan Wani used social-media, leveraging "a clever mix of ideology, religion and a deep sense of persecution"[26] in chaste Kashmiri to romanticize the militant movement and wielded unforeseen influence in the local populace as a poster-boy, attracting numerous young adults into the cause.

The family of Khalid however alleged that he died in custody, claiming that his body showed no bullet wounds but clinical signs of physical torture.

He and his companions were killed in Bumdoora village in Kokernag area by a joint team of the special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and 19 Rashtriya Rifles.

[38][39][40] Security forces later stated that the operation had actually begun on 7 June when Burhan, along with his companions, had come to Kokernag in order to procure weapons.

Jammu and Kashmir Police's Director General K. Rajendra confirmed that Wani was killed in an exchange of fire between security personnel and the militants.

[21] Peoples Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig alleged that the standard operating procedure had not been followed during the encounter involving Wani and his accomplices.

[72] On 12 July, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a statement expressed "shock" over the killing of Burhan Wani[73] which was criticised by the Indian government.

[75] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the media alleging it was portraying the slain Wani as a hero.

[76] Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi during meeting with UN officials raised the killing of Wani describing it as an "assassination of a Kashmiri youth leader".

[77] During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September, Sharif described Burhan Wani as a "young leader" who had emerged as a symbol of the latest "Kashmiri Intifada".

[78] His family was allowed to be given ex-gratia compensation of ₹4,00,000 by the Jammu and Kashmir government in December 2016 for the controversial killing of his older brother Khalid.

[83] India arrested journalist Asif Sultan in August 2019, after he wrote a piece titled "The Rise of Burhan Wani".

[88][89][90] Wani had released a group photo on 1 July 2015 of himself seated with ten other militants, all armed and dressed in army fatigues, which went viral.