Adil Lateef
Srinagar, Sept 19: A three year old kid who was injured yesterday during an attack on his father, a former Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen militant, by gunmen in north Kashmir’s Sopore area of Baramulla district succumbed to his bullet injuries here in a hospital while a bullet-riddled body of a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander was found today in a paddy field at Kunzar area Tangmarg. Police have attributed the fresh spate of killings to inter-group rivalry between Hizb and its splinter group, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI).
The slain kid namely Burhan Bashir, who was a student of Nursery at Welkin School, was critically injured when gunmen, believed to be LeI militants by police, fired a volley of gunfire on his father namely Bashir Ahmad Bhat at Sagripora in restive Sopore yesterday evening.
The slain kid was in the lap of Bashir when gunmen attacked the latter outside their house. Police said the suspected militants who were on motorbike first threw a grenade towards the former Jamiat man which failed to explode and then opened fire. It was learnt that the Bashir was supposed to recharge his phone from a nearby shop. Though the duo was rushed to hospital but Bashir succumbed to injuries enroute while Burhan was shifted to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura where he lost his life today early morning.
A senior police officer told Excelsior that Bashir had crossed over to Pakistan for arms training in 1989 and returned in 1991. After his return, he became a Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) militant and was arrested in 1994 – the year JKLF announced a unilateral ceasefire – and was imprisoned till 1997. The officer said that soon after his release he again crossed over to Pakistan and returned in 1997 and joined the ranks of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen. However, in 1997, he surrendered as Jamiat militant.
The officer said that the slain was working as civil contractor. Interestingly, an encounter between militants and security forces broke out at his house in 2006 in which two Hizb militants were killed. The officer said that initial probe suggests the involvement of LeI hand. “They (LeI) killed former militants and separatist activists early in May and June and the modus-operandi is same as was in those assassinations,” he said.
Witnesses said when the body of Burhan reached his ancestral village, a pale of gloom descended in entire area and people staged massive protests. The women were seen wailing and beating their chests. The witnesses said, hundreds of people attended the funeral of the kid and he was laid to near his father’s grave, who was buried last night, in their ancestral graveyard. Bashir is survived by his wife and one and a half year old daughter. Besides, he has a father, mother and two brothers and all of them live in a joint family.
The killing of the kid has evoked strong reactions from both mainstream and separatist camps and they have condemned the “gruesome” murder.
Meanwhile, sources said that body of Hizb commander Fayaz Ahmad Bhat of Pattan was recovered from Devbog in Kunzar area of Tangmarg in Baramulla district this morning. The slain Hizb commander was dressed in Army fatigue and his body was spotted in a paddy field.
The recovery of the body has come six days after three-bullet riddled bodies of local LeI militants were recovered from an orchard in Nihalpora area of Pattan in Baramulla.
Police sources said that the bullet-riddled body of the slain was spotted by locals this morning. The local Sarpanch immediately informed police and security forces immediately rushed to the spot. The police took the body in its possession for post-mortem to District Hospital Baramulla.
A doctor, who conducted the autopsy of the slain militant, said that the slain militant was shot in lower jaw and chest. “Besides, there were two other bullet marks. His death had occurred some 6 to 8 hours ago,” he said, adding: “there were no torture marks on his body.”
A top police officer said the preliminary investigation suggests that Hizb commander was killed by rival Lashkar-e-Islam militants. “It appears a revenge killing,” he said, adding: “so far the probe suggests that the three LeI militants were killed by Hizb and there was Fayaz’s hand as well.” It must be mentioned here that Fayaz’s name had surfaced soon after the bodies of the LeI militants were found.
The officer said that the Fayaz was a categorized militant and was involved in number of militancy related incidents. He said that the slain Hizb commander joined the militant ranks some six years ago and was also arrested during that course of time. “But, last year in third week of June, he recycled and joined Hizbul Mujahideen. This year on April 2, he fled from Hardshiva Tangmarg during an encounter in which one soldier and a police SPO lost their lives,” the officer said, adding that he also worked for Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) as Over Ground Worker.
The fresh killings triggered spontaneous protests in parts of north Kashmir amidst shutdown. The protests broke out in Pattan, Kunzar and Sopore townships of the Baramulla district during which protesters clashed with security forces. All the shops and commercial establishments were shut in these areas while the anger over the killings was visible.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, today deeply mourned the killing of a three-year-old child in an attack by unidentified gunmen at Sopore yesterday evening.
In his condolence message, Mufti Sayeed condemned the dastardly act and said his heart goes out to the unfortunate mother of the young child, for whom the passing away of his son in such inhuman circumstances will be an earth-shattering experience.
The Chief Minister conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for a place in jannat for the young boy.
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