Srinagar: Refusing to buy police version of the incident, different political parties here have sought an impartial and time-bound probe to ascertain truth of detained Sopore youth’s death.
National Conference Member Parliament Hasnain Masoodi raised the matter of “custodial death” of Irfan Ahmad Dar at Sopore and the death of three youth in a “fake encounter” at Shopian in the Lok Sabha, a party press release informed.
He informed the House that after the “unconstitutional” decision of 5th August 2019, “a story of oppression is being scripted in J&K; thousands were detained and now the oppression has been taken to new levels with fake encounters and custodial deaths.
“A month back, three youths were gunned down in an encounter at Shopain and they were declared dreaded militants and after a few days it was found that they were innocent labourers from Rajouri who were allegedly killed in a fake encounter. The DNA samples have been taken a month back, but the investigation is being delayed without any reason,” he said.
He also asked the Defence minister to make a statement and inform the House about the status of investigation.
He also raised the matter of alleged custodial killing of Irfan Ahmad Dar at Sopore and asked for a statement, arguing that the oppression and atrocities are not going to fetch any results and would further widen the gulf between people and the GoI.
NC president and MP from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah, and MP from Baramulla Mohammad Akbar Lone also expressed outrage over the killing of a young man in Tujjar Sopore.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) termed the killing as a “cold blooded murder”, stating that this excruciating episode has once again served as a grim reminder of how truth is mangled and stories are fabricated to justify killing innocent civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement issued here, PDP spokesman said that “in order to justify its repressive, unconstitutional, inhuman and extremely violent measures upon the people of Kashmir, all that the government of India needs is a militancy narrative.”
He added that “armed forces in Kashmir have been given absolute impunity to detain, torture or kill innocent people and that is how the cold blooded murder of Irfan Ahmed Dar, a shopkeeper by profession, wrongfully accused of being an OGW, has occurred.”
He added that the wounds inflicted upon the families of those Kashmiris who were recently killed by the forces in Shopian were still fresh and the government has perpetuated yet another act of terror upon an innocent civilian of Kashmir.
PDP spokesman said that a probe ordered into the Shopian “fake encounter” by the government is acting as “mere eyewash as delaying tactics are being adopted.”
“Guns and bullets have become the only symbols of Indian control in Kashmir and it is time that the saner voices in the country come forward and act responsibly in putting lid to collective punishment given to the people of Jammu and Kashmir without any remorse,” PDP said.
While condemning the alleged custodial killing, Peoples Conference Chairman, Sajad Lone tweeted:
“Sopore incident just doesn’t add up. They have done a bad job even at inventing a story. The guilty need to be punished.
“It is imperative that the sanctity of human life is restored in Kashmir. Move beyond statistics. Stop treating bodies as statistics. These r human lives”.
His party’s general secretary, Imran Raza Ansari tweeted:
“Another son lost. Guilty need to be punished”.
Former chief minister and NC Vice President also condemned the killing and tweeted:
“The administration can’t possibly win back the confidence of the people if “encounters” like Shopian or suspicious deaths like Sopore are allowed to pass without the facts being established & guilt, when determined, fully punished. @manojsinha_ must intervene in both these cases”.
CPI(M) leader and former MLA Kulgam, M Y Tarigami, tweeted:
“No more concocted stories on Sopore killing. Enough is enough. Whom to trust? Did any of so called investigations ever brought culprits to book?”
Apni Party also demanded a high level probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of Irfan Ahmad Dar.
In a statement issued here, Javid Baig, spokesman of Apni Party demanded that the government must constitute an inquiry into the incident in order to ascertain the veracity of contradictory claims made by police and family of the deceased youth.
“Even if the claims of the police are true that the slain youth was an over ground worker who allegedly took advantage of darkness to escape and during search, his body was found at Tujjar-Sharief, the police cannot be absolved of its responsibility warranted under law. The circumstances which led to his death need to be probed in order to find the truth,” Baig added.
He urged the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha to order a time-bound probe taking into account all aspects of the unfortunate incident which has triggered a fresh wave of anger and alienation in the whole area.
