One day after the J&K Army and Police described the three men killed in an encounter in Srinagar as “terrorists” and “unconditional associates” respectively, the trio’s families breached the police version and pleaded not guilty.
The families, two of which have members working with the Jammu and Kashmir police, described the claims of two forces as fabricated and full of loopholes. They alleged that the three had no connection with the militancy and were killed in an organized meeting. While two were students, aged 22 and 17, the third, 24, was a construction worker.
On Wednesday, the three men from southern Kashmir were killed in an encounter with the army on the outskirts of Srinagar in Lawaypora on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway. Police said an AK rifle, two pistols and other incriminating material were recovered from the dead.
Mohammad Maqbool Ganie, father of the murdered Aijaz Ganie, one of the three men killed in Wednesday’s encounter, who works with the Jammu and Kashmir police, told News 18 there was no evidence to suggest his son was involved in militant activities. .
He said Aijaz was on complete bed rest for the past 35 days on the doctor’s advice. He had barely left home because he had a serious back problem, he said. “All the people knew that he was staying at home. Where was the possibility that he would join the militancy if he was bedridden and confined to his home? ”, He questioned.
Ganie said her son had left for Pulwama University on Tuesday to submit his form. He claimed that he was seen having tea at a tea shop in Pulwama at 3pm. “There are eyewitness accounts suggesting that he was in Pulwama at 3 pm and that the encounter with Lawaypora began at 5 pm. How did you get there and bring the weapons to the site? Does that mean he was enjoying the tea and also sending the weapons by courier? “Said Ganie, who is the chief of police of the Ganderbal police.
He said that Aijaz spoke on the phone twice a day: at 3 p.m. with his sister and around 4 p.m. with his mother. He said he was coming home with a friend and that if it got late, he would stay home, he recalled.
She denied the police claim that her son was a surface worker. “How can a person become a surface worker in an hour or two? Surely, we would have had an idea if it were. Or the police could have told us, ”Ganie said, adding that in that case there must be an FIR or raids on his home.
He said the family had no idea of Aijaz’s murder until Wednesday morning and the Rajpora Police Station informed him that there was an encounter in Lawaypora.
“First they asked for a photograph of Aijaz and when I asked what had happened they told me to go to the Police Control Room. In PCR, I was surprised to see my son’s body dumped along with two other children, ”he added.
“All I want is justice and the body of my son,” he said.
Irfan Ahmad Wani, brother of Zubair Wani, another murdered youth, said that there was no substance in the police statement that he (Zubair) was involved in the militancy. “He had a good formwork business and he would be busy with it.” Irfan and her older brother are police officers.
He seemed angered by the police statement mentioning that the families were unaware of their pupils’ participation in militant activities. “If the police had that information, why didn’t they tell us or arrest them? Or present a case, ”he said.
“Zubair’s record is clean. There is no FIR against you. If so, it would have been communicated to the village chief. Check with your local police station and they will tell you there is no case against you. “
Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, the father of Athar Wani, 17, also questioned the murder, saying that according to standard operating procedure, parents are summoned to meeting places to persuade their wards to surrender. “They called us only after his death. No effort was made to save them, ”he said.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, called for the return of the bodies to the families. “I met the families of the young people killed at the Lawaypora meeting. Forget justice, even your corpses will not be returned to you for the last rites. They have lost their beloved children forever and amidst the pain they have to even beg for closure, ”he wrote on Twitter.
The army and police said they had made repeated calls on Tuesday and Wednesday for the trio to lay down their arms, but instead, the trio fired and threw grenades at the troops. “The impression we got was that they didn’t want to give up,” HS Sahi, the general commanding officer of Kilo Force, told reporters on Wednesday.
He said the trio were plotting to carry out a major terrorist attack in Srinagar for publicity purposes. A police statement late at night had said that the three were “staunch partners of terrorists.” Police said they will investigate the case and then reach a conclusion on the merits soon.
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