Bhat Yasir
On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir police addressed a press conference, sharing the details of enquiry report, conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Hyderpora Encounter.
The SIT incharge, DIG central Kashmir Sujit Kumar Singh, while giving a detailed presentation about the investigations carried out into the Hydeprora encounter said that the local youth from Jammu Amir Magray was a militant and he had lied about presence of foreign militant in the building while the building owner was made a “human shield by a foreign militant who got killed in a cross-fire.”
He said that prima-facie evidence shows that Dr. Mudasir Gul was shot dead by the foreign militant on the directions “possibly from across.”
However, Lateef Magrey, the father of Amir Magray told The Kashmiriyat that the police has made false accusations about Amir. “He is innocent,” Lateef said while demanding judicial probe into the encounter.
‘Amir’s innocent, judicial enquiry necessary’: Lateef Magrey
“They killed him and now, they are saying he was a militant. How can we accept it?” asked Lateef.
When asked about ‘Amir holding a pistol in a photo’ as the police alleged, Lateef Magrey said, “I don’t know. That will come forward after the enquiry.” He said that some five or six days earlier, the family tried to protest and demand Amir’s dead body back at Sangaldan, but the authorities imposed section 144, there.
It is pertinent to mention that Section 144 of the Indian Constitution is a ruling that prohibits public gatherings in a given jurisdiction.
The DIG, who was heading the SIT into the Hyderpora encounter, said that CCTV footage, shows that Dr Mudasir Gul was travelling with the foreign militant in his vehicle in Srinagar city. “The footage and other evidences show that Amir Magray had accompanied the foreign militant during Jamalata Srinagar attack. Amir would often travel to Bandipora and Gurez, an angle which is still under investigation,” DIG Sujit Kumar Singh said.
Amir’s father, Lateef Magrey, told The Kashmiriyat that Amir had studied at Bandipora and might have gone to meet some friend there. “Amir is innocent. He worked as a helper,” Lateef said, adding, “His mother’s condition is worsening.”
“Governor sahab had said the investigation will be completed within two days, but nothing happened. No one is investigating it. They are saying he was a militant. We demand a judicial enquiry so that we are able to trust the judiciary,” said Lateef Magrey.
Sujit Kumar Singh, who was joined by the Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh and IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said that Amir Magray was a militant. “He had gone to a Darul Uloom Rahimiya to study but left studies mid-way. He would frequently visit Bandipora and Gurez,” he said, adding that from the site of encounter, two pistols and four magazines were recovered.
Victim Families from Srinagar call the probe a ‘staged drama’
Families of Mohd. Altaf Bhat and Dr. Mudasir Gul, too, share the same sentiment. They called the SIT probe a ‘staged drama,’ and said that the entire aim of the probe was to give a clean chit to the force personnel. Mohd. Altaf’s family added that the CCTV footage was fabricated as the CCTV installed in Altaf’s building was not working for the past 15 months.
Kashmiri mainstream political parties call the probe ‘a cover-up story’
Meanwhile, the PAGD (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration) termed police statement on Hyderpora ‘encounter’ as concocted to cover-up story.
In a statement, the PAGD Spokesperson M Y Tarigami said that the press briefing of Jammu Kashmir police about last month’s Hyderpora tragic incident was “only a repetition of the old story. It does not even, slightly give any objective picture of this shocking incident.”
“There is a strong public perception that the civilians killed in the incident were made human shields by the security forces and the latest statement of the police seems to be a concocted cover-up story. It will not suffice the legitimate concerns of the people at large and family of the slain victims,” it added.
Reiterating its demand for a judicial probe into the matter, the PAGD said that it firmly believed that “nothing short of a credible judicial probe will clear the doubts. The administration must, without any further delay, order a time-bound judicial probe.”
The Apni Party chief, Altaf Bukhari, also said that the party does not accept the probe conducted by police, adding that the killers should be brought to book. “Who is police to give clean chit in Hyderpora incident? Judicial probe has to be conducted in this regard and the killers will be identified,” he said.
The People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone, expressing his disenchantment with the probe, said that the findings of the probe were on “expected lines.”
“Hyderpora probe on expected lines. One more addition to hundreds of ornamental probes. Any victims of the past or of the future better ensure that they are not caught up in wrong place at the wrong time or even right place at the wrong time. Onus to save oneself is on the self,” he said in a tweet.