Family of truck driver, killed in J&K, accepts relief offer after protest
ALWAR/JAIPUR: The body of truck driver Mohammed Ilyas, who was kil l ed by t errorists i n Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, was buried on Saturday evening after his family members accepted the offer of the Alwar administration.
Meanwhile, the Jaipur Transport Operators Association (JTOA) has issued an advisory to truck companies asking them not to take bookings for transporting goods to or from Kashmir and not to send their vehicles and drivers to Kashmir.
Gopal Rathore, JTOA Rajasthan president, said the advisory was issued in view of the recent killings of drivers and helpers from Rajasthan in Kashmir.
Ilyas’s family had refused to accept the body which was brought to his village Khobas on Saturday. Ilyas is survived by wife and four children. Family and Meo community members sat on a dharna at Mehrampur , demanding Rs 21 lakh and a government job in compensation.
Three rounds of talks were held between the Meo community and the Alwar administration till evening before a compromise was arrived at, said acting collector Ramcharan Sharma.
He said the family had agreed to compensation of Rs 6.5 lakh and benefit of various government welfare schemes. He said the Rajasthan government has given Rs 2 lakh while the Jammu and Kashmir government will give Rs 4.5 lakh to the family.
Ex-sarpanch of Kithoor panchayat Khursheed Ahmed said their demands included awarding Ilyas the status of a martyr, Rs 21 lakh compensation to the victim’s family, free education to his kids, government job to a member of the family and facilities to the victim’s wife that are provided to a martyr’s wife
They had threatened an agitat i on f rom October 30 i f t he administration did not fulfil their demands.
Ahmed said apart from the government compensation, Meo community members would give the family Rs 3.5 lakh. “Congress MLA Deep Chand Kheria will give Rs 1 lakh and I will give Rs 50,000. Ilyas’s wife will be given a job as an anganwadi worker.”
Ilyas, 45, and his helper Zahid Meo were killed by terrorists in Shopian district as they were returning with a truckload of apples after having offloaded the milk supply for the Army personnel. Zahid, a resident of Bharatpur district, left his wife and three children behind.
This is the fourth such attack on non-j&k residents and second on truckers from Rajasthan, in last couple of weeks. On October 14, truck driver Sharief Khan from Bharatpur was gunned down by terrorists in J&K.