Kashmir records fourth civilian death in 48 hours
WHILE THE RUMOURS SPREAD THAT WANI WAS ‘KILLED BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN’, POLICE CLARIFIED THAT ‘NO FIREARM INJURY WAS VISIBLE ON HIS BOD’Y
A former sarpanch was found dead with visible wounds on Monday in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, said officials, taking the toll of civilian deaths in the region to four since Saturday.
A police spokesperson said Shabir Ahmad Wani, a native of Wakilbalan Shangas in Achabal area of the district, had “minor injuries on his forehead and below his eye”.
“To ascertain the cause and circumstances of his death, Achabal police has initiated proceeding under U/S 174 CRPC,” the spokesperson added.
Sources said Wani was a worker of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
While the rumours spread that Wani was “killed by unknown gunmen”, police clarified that “no firearm injury was visible on his body and neither was there any sign of torture”.
“Prima facie it seems that Wani died due to accidental fall,” they added.
On Sunday, Hilal Ahmed Malik, an owner of a cable network, and college student Gowhar Ahmad Dar (16) were killed by suspected militants in south Kashmir’s Shopian district in separate incidents, while on Saturday evening another PDP worker Mohammad Ishaq Parray (40) was gunned down by unidentified gunmen in Anantnag.
Late on Sunday, police said that the militants behind the killing cable network owner have been identified.
“The terrorists involved in the attack on cable network owner are Zubair Ahmad Turray, son of Bashir Ahmad Turray, a resident of Bonbazar in Shopian and Umar Nazir Malik alias Khattab, son of Nazir Ahmad Malik, a resident of Malikgund in Shopian.
Police have launched a massive manhunt to nab the perpetrators and will bring them to justice soon,” a police spokesperson said. Meanwhile, hundreds of people participated in the funeral of Malik in Shopian on Monday.
Police also claimed to have cracked the killing of Dar.
“On the basis of reliable inputs, Shopian police has identified two LeT terrorists Waseem Shah, a resident of Heff, and Nazim Dar, a resident of Urpora, and a manhunt has been launched to nab them,” said police.
Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahedeen, however, accused the Indian agencies of killing Dar. Burhanuddin, the spokesperson of Hizbul Mujahedeen operations, told local news agency CNS that the “outfit is grieved over the death of Dar and wants to clarify that it had no role whatsoever in his killing”.
Meanwhile, chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti described the killings of Malik and Dar as unfortunate, inhuman and dastardly.
Senior AIADMK leader VK Sasikala might have walked out of jail while serving a four-year sentence on corruption charges, according to an undated prison surveillance video that surfaced on Monday.
The video, whose authenticity could not be verified by Hindustan Times, purportedly showed her walking into the jail in civilian clothes.
The Hindu reported the footage was part of evidence submitted by former Karnataka deputy inspector general of prisons Roopa D Moudgil to the state anti-corruption bureau in July.
Moudgil had accused the prison authorities of accepting a bribe to extend special privileges to Sasikala.
The footage purportedly shows Sasikala and her niece Ilavarasi, both convicted in a disproportionate assets case, walking in through the entry of the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in civilian clothes. Several male guards are seen in the footage.
Male guards are allowed only at the main gate of the prison complex and not inside the women’s facility.
This comes after weeks of controversy over Moudgil alleging that Sasikala was accorded preferential treatment during her stay in the jail.
Moudgil alleged Sasikala paid top prison officials, including former director general of police (prisons) HN Sathyanarayana Rao, a bribe of ₹2 crore to enjoy privileged treatment, including a private kitchen.