J&K civilian deaths: Families demand for judicial probe
SRINAGAR: The death of two civilians in the Hyderpora encounter triggered a controversy on Tuesday after families of the deceased claimed that they were used as “human shields” but police said they were “harbourers of terrorists who died in cross firing”.
Businessman Altaf Ahmad Bhat and Mudasir Gul were killed along with two terrorists during the gunbattle in Hyderpora area of Srinagar on Monday night. While Jammu and Kashmir Police believe that one of the terrorists is a Pakistani, they suspect that the other is from Ramban in Jammu region.
Police also claimed that the two civilians killed in the encounter were “over-ground workers (OGWs)” as the house of the businessman was used to “harbour terrorists”.
“Since the terrorists’ hideout was in Bhat’s building, he will be counted as an overground worker (OGW) for harbouring militants,” inspector general (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar told reporters, even as he expressed regret over the businessman’s killing.
Police alleged that Gul, another OGW, had brought the terrorists to the hideout. The accused was running a module of terrorists, bringing them from other parts of Kashmir, they said.
“Gul had brought the terrorists from Jamalatta, where one of our cops suffered injuries in the neck during an encounter with terrorists, in his own car and dropped them at Hyderpora,” the IGP said.
The families of the two deceased, however, claimed the civilians were killed in a “coldblooded murder”.
“My father was innocent. He was used as a human shield. First, he was taken inside the building by forces, then they left… He was again taken inside and he did not come back,” Bhat’s daughter said.
Bhat is survived by his wife and three children.
“You killed my innocent uncle Mohammad Altaf Bhat in coldblooded murder In Hyderpora, you used him as human shield and now saying he was “OGW”. return us his body @JmuKmrPolice @SrinagarPolice @IGP,” Saima Bhat, niece of the businessman, wrote on Twitter. Gul’s family alleged that he was being framed by police.
“Mudasir Gul was innocent. Police are lying… he never had any links with terrorists. He left home on Monday morning and when we heard about the encounter, we called him but his number was not reachable,” the deceased’s younger sister said.
Fearing trouble, police buried the two bodies in Handwara, around 70 km away from Hyderpora, without the participation of their families. “Due to law and order problems, the bodies were not handed over to the families and buried at Handwara,” Kumar said.
The killings also evoked a sharp response from political parties in the Union territory.
People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti sought a probe into Bhat’s killing.
“Using innocent civilians as human shields, getting them killed in cross firing & then conveniently labelling them as OGWs is part of GOIs rulebook now. Imperative that a credible judicial enquiry is done to bring out the truth & put an end to this rampant culture of impunity,” she tweeted.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah sought an impartial and credible inquiry into the encounter.
“There are far too many questions being raised about the encounter & about the people killed. There have been numerous instances of fake encounters in the past and the questions raised about this #hyderporaencounter need to be answered swiftly & in a credible manner,” he said.
Meanwhile, police said photographs of the terrorist who is believed to be from Jammu have been sent to his family for identification. The second terrorist, believed to be from Pakistan, was identified as Bilal Bhai alias Hyder. “We have taken DNA samples from bodies of both the militants to confirm their identity,” the Kashmir IGP said.