Family stages demo, alleges foul play
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 24: A 21-year-old youth died during a police operation while they were chasing suspected drug peddlers in Sure Chak area here falling under the jurisdiction of Police Station Satwari.
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Angered by the incident, the family members of the deceased staged a protest outside Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu, claiming the youth was innocent and had no links to drug peddling. They demanded a fair investigation into the matter to punish those involved in what they termed as a “fake encounter”.
Police, however, claimed that they recovered 12-15 grams of a heroin-like-substance from the youth’s possession and have launched a search to trace his associate, who is on the run.
Officials said that acting on specific input about drug peddling, a team from the District Special Branch (DSB) along with personnel from Police Post Phallain Mandal were chasing some suspected drug peddlers in Sure Chak, where they came under fire.
In the crossfire, they said, one youth, identified as Mohammad Parvez (21), son of late Rehmat Ali of Javed Nagar, Nikki Tawi, was injured, while his associate managed to flee the spot.
They said the injured youth was shifted to GMC Jammu, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
A senior police officer confirmed that 12-15 grams of heroin-like substance was found in the deceased youth’s possession. He added that a manhunt is underway to trace the second suspect, whose identity is yet to be confirmed.
As news of the incident spread, the deceased’s family members reached GMC Jammu to inquire about his condition.
However, they were not allowed to enter the hospital premises, where a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces had already been made.
After learning of the youth’s death, the agitated family again tried to enter the hospital for a last glimpse, but were stopped by the security personnel.
Speaking to the media, one of the deceased’s brothers accused the police of wrongfully branding his brother a drug peddler and stopping the family from seeing his body.
“My brother was not a criminal. He had no past record and was never linked to drug peddlers. He was murdered by the police,” he alleged.
“Even if police believed he was involved, they could have arrested him instead of killing him,” he added.
He demanded a fair and independent investigation to hold the police accountable.
Meanwhile, tensions rose further when more relatives gathered and tried to enter the hospital. However, security personnel continued to stop them.
Even as the protest was called off late night after the post-mortem was performed at the hospital, the body was not handed over to his legal heirs till the press time.
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