Baramulla: Amid sobs and tears, the three slain youth killed by suspected militants on Monday late evening near Khanpora bridge in Baramulla were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyards on Tuesday and hundreds of people participated in the funeral prayers.
Locals said that after conducting post-mortem and other legal formalities at District Hospital Baramulla, the bodies of the three youth were handed over to their families and later their joint funeral prayers were offered at the premises of Dargah Alia.
While bodies of 21 year old Asif Ahmad Sheikh son of Ali Mohammad Sheikh of Mohalla Kararhamam and 19 year old Haseeb Ahmad Khan son of Gulam Nabi Khan of Syed Karim were buried in town’s oldest graveyard at Eidgah Qadeem. Asgar Ahmad Sheikh, 19, son of Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh of Kakar Hamam Baramulla was laid to rest at Tawheed Gunj graveyard.
Pertinently police on late Monday issued a statement in which they mentioned that one Pakistani militant and two local militants are involved in this heinous crime.
However, families of trio slain have appealed all militant outfits and agencies to come clear about the killings of the youth.
“Why they killed our innocent sons so brutally, what was their crime? The killers must be punished,” the mourning families said.
Grief stricken family of Asif Ahmad Sheikh of Syeed Karim Mohla hardly could believe that their son was no more.
“He was not involved in anything and had no crime record at al. He was neither associated with any pro-Indian or pro-freedom political party,” said ailing Ali Mohammad father of Asif.
“He used to sell shoes in an Auto in different areas of district mostly in Uri area. He was the sole support to the family,” he added.
Talking to media persons, father of slain Haseeb, Gulam Nabi Khan said that Haseeb was preparing for class 12 exams and was released from jail before nine days as he was arrested by police on stone pelting charges in 2016 and was shifted to Court Balwal jail.
Another slain youth, Asgar was arrested several times several times in stone pelting cases . He was not politically affiliated and is survived by his divorced mother Fahmeda and his own two kids as Asagar has also divorced his wife few years back.
The family members of three slain youths appealed all the militant outfits and agencies to come clear on the killings to end the ambiguity as they want to know who killed the trio and why.
CM, separatists, Hizb condemn killings
SRINAGAR, MAY 01: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti has condemned the killing of three youth at Baramulla yesterday evening by unknown assailants.
The Chief Minister said she is pained to see young boys getting killed in an unending cycle of violence which she reiterated ought to be put to an end.
Mehbooba Mufti has extended sympathies to bereaved families of the slain youth.
Meanwhile joint separatist leadership on Tuesday while condemning the killing of three civilians in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district last night, said shooting someone over his party or political affiliations is “inhuman and un-Islamic”
Headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, the leadership in a statement said that time and again people are killed in such a manner and no one knows who kills them as the killers remain unidentified gunmen.
“While the state authorities conveniently blame armed youth the militant organisations in fact condemn the killings and many time blame state agencies. In the process the culprits never get identified,” they said.
Calling the killings a matter of serious concern, the leaders appealed to the UN to take note of this and set up an impartial inquiry into these killings.
Meanwhile, according to a local news agency, Kashmir News Service (KNS), Hizbul Mujahideen operational spokesman, Burhan-ud-din in a tele-statement, has “strongly condemned the killing of three civilians by gunmen in Baramulla.”
“It is India who is killing Kashmiris,” KNS quoted Burhan-ud-din as saying, while appealing people to help them in identifying those who were behind such acts.
