Centre’s envoy to Valley visits Kupwara district

SRINAGAR: The Centre’s special representative Dineshwar Sharma on Monday visited the border district of Kupwara as part of his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

It is the third visit of Sharma — a former head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) — to the state after his appointment by the Centre to start a multilayered, sustained dialogue to address the Kashmir problem.

Sharma reached Kupwara district in the afternoon. According to local authorities, Sharma met around 30 delegations at the Kupwara Dak Bungalow. The delegations included many youth groups.

Among the first to meet Sharma was the family of cab driver Asif Iqbal Bhat, who was allegedly killed by the Army earlier this month during an encounter. The family members, who were called by the district administration to meet Sharma, conveyed their anger over Bhat’s killing.

Bhat was seriously injured after being hit by a bullet in Thandipora in Kralpora area of the Kupwara district and was shifted to a hospital. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Police has lodged an FIR in the Police Station Kralpora and an investigation has been launched. However, the Army has maintained that the deceased was caught in a crossfire between troops and militants.

The other delegations apprised Sharma, the former director of Intelligence Bureau, about the problems faced by them during heightened tension along the Line of Control or during a cordon off by security forces and search operations carried out by the Army.

Employment, lack of power supply and non-availability of food grains especially during the winter months also figured during the discussions with Sharma.