Chorus grows for ‘impartial, credible’ inquiry into encounter
Foreign militant, his local 'associate' among four killed in Hyderpora gunfight: IGP
Family members of killed Mudasir raise questions, seek answers during a protest in Srinagar on Tuesday. Photo/Javed Khan
Srinagar: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, Tuesday said that four persons including a foreign militant, his “local associate”, an “OGW” and a building-owner were killed in a gunfight in Hyderpora area of Srinagar last evening.
Kumar said “the building owner was killed in the cross-fire while the fourth person was an OGW who had provided his rented space to Haider (foreign militant) for using the same as hideout.”
Addressing a press conference at Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar, the IGP Kashmir said that yesterday evening, police received a lead about the presence of militants near Hyderpora.
“Police, CRPF and the army laid a cordon and when they zeroed in on the suspected spot, militants fired indiscriminately at the forces,” the IGP said.
He said that in the ensuing gunfight, two militants including a foreigner identified as Haider/Bilal Bhai and his local associate possibly from Banihal area of Jammu were killed. “We have called a family from Banihal to identify the slain,” the IGP said.
According to PTI, the IGP also said the businessman (owner of the building where encounter took place) Mohammad Altaf Bhat was killed in the “cross-firing” between militants and security forces, but he would be counted as a “harbourer of terrorists” as he did not inform authorities about the tenants in his building.
“Altaf was killed in the cross-firing with the terrorists. Let the postmortem report come and we will come to know who fired the bullet that killed him,” IGP said.
Even though he expressed regret over Altaf Bhat’s killing, Kumar said the deceased would be counted among the “harbourers” of militants.
“He had kept tenants and police had no information about it. The responsibility of the owner does not end with renting out the place… He should also check once in a while as to what is happening there,” the IGP said.
He said Mudasir Gul, the person who had rented the premises, was an “active associate of terrorists”.
“Mudasir 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,” he said.
The IGP said Gul was operating an “illegal” call centre from the rented premises.
“We have recovered computers, mobile phones, maps of the USA and other material. A special investigation team (SIT to be headed by a DIG) has been formed to investigate further,” he said, adding the findings will be made public in due course.
Kumar said security forces tried their best to evacuate Bhat and Gul but could not save them “as the situation was bad”.
Kumar last night had said the house-owner was working as “terror associate”.
“The house owner who was injured in terrorist fire, succumbed to his injuries. #Terrorists have been hiding on top floor of his building. As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as #terror associate. Search is still going on,” Kumar had tweeted.
However, the family claimed that Bhat had no links to militancy.
“You killed my innocent uncle Mohammad Altaf Bhat in cold blooded murder In Hyderpora, you used him as human shield and now saying he was “OGW” (over ground worker), return us his body @JmuKmrPolice @SrinagarPolice @IGP,” tweeted Saima Bhat, niece of the deceased.
Altaf Bhat’s teenage daughter pleaded with authorities to return her father’s body.
Gul’s family also claimed innocence and urged the authorities to hand over his body to them for final rites.
Kumar said the bodies of the four slain men were buried in the early hours today in Handwara area of Kupwara district to avoid any law and order problems in the city.
Meanwhile, cutting across party lines, different political leaders in Kashmir Tuesday demanded an impartial and credible probe into the killing of two “civilian” men during a gunfight between militants and security forces last night in Hyderpora area of Srinagar.
Police said four people, including a foreign militant and his associate from Ramban district, were killed in the gunfight.
As per IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, Mohammad Altaf Bhat, the owner of the building where the gunfight took place, and one Mudassir Gul, “an OGW” as per police were killed “in cross-fire”, a claim contested by their families.
“Using innocent civilians as human shields, getting them killed in cross firing & then conveniently labelling them as OGWs is part of GOIs rulebook now,” former chief minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti said in a tweet responding to a video of a teenaged daughter of one of the deceased, Altaf Bhat, shared by a user.
“Imperative that a credible judicial enquiry is done to bring out the truth & put an end to this rampant culture of impunity,” she added.
Addressing a group of youths earlier at her party office in Jammu, Mufti said, “I came across a news about an encounter in Hyderpora. Militants getting killed is understandable but there are allegations by the family that the house owner was used as a human shield and was killed along with a young doctor.”
“I do not know which category they (house owner and the doctor) will be put into but the heart aches. It pains to see that you have started targeting civilians while fighting militants. That is wrong,” she added.
National Conference vice-president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah also demanded an “impartial & credible inquiry” into the killings.
“An impartial & credible inquiry in to the recent encounter in Hyderpora is an absolute necessity. There are far too many questions being raised about the encounter & about the people killed,” Omar said in a tweet.
“There have been numerous instances of fake encounters in the past and the questions raised about this Hyderpora encounter need to be answered swiftly & in a credible manner,” he added.
“JKNC MPs Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi today demanded an impartial and time bound probe into the Hyderpora civilian Killings and demands of bereaved families should be heard and respected,” an NC spokesman said in a one-line statement.
People’s Conference president, Sajad Gani Lone said there was a need to find out a transparent description of what happened in Hyderpora encounter by a neutral institution.
“In the midst of conflicting claims in the Hyderpora encounter the least we deserve is a transparent description of what happened by a neutral institution. This is neither the first time nor the last time. @manojsinha_ U have the opportunity to assert that human lives matter,” Lone tweeted.
CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami urged the authorities to handover the bodies of the slain men to their families for proper burial.
“Allegedly using slain unarmed civilians as human shields is shocking and must be probed through judicial process. The circumstances in which these killings happened need to be thoroughly probed,” Tarigami said in a statement.
“The rule of the law is being violated with impunity in Kashmir which is highly unfortunate. From arbitrary arrests of people, including youth to booking them under draconian laws and now allegations of using civilians as human-shields, the situation is turning from bad to worse,” he said.
Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu also requested the LG Manoj Sinha to order a probe into the killing of two men in a gunfight in Hyderpora last evening.
“Grave and serious allegations emerging from the Hyderpora encounter. Request Hon’ble LG @manojsinha_ Sahab to order an impartial and time-bound probe to ascertain the truth. Hope the truth prevails. The families of the two civilians should be heard and heard dispassionately,” Mattu wrote in a tweet this afternoon.
