Suhail Dar
The incident in Anantnag where a “drunk” man allegedly killed three persons and injured several others has left the Kashmir valley in deep shock.
Javid Ahmed Rather, who has been arrested by the Jammu Kashmir Police in connection with the alleged murder of three people including his mother is a baker by profession and has more than twenty people working at his shop in Pahalgam, Locals said.
Ghulam Hassan Rather, his father speaking to The Kashmiriyat that on Friday morning, Javid told that he wanted to go to his relative’s house in Aishmuqam town, around a distance of roughly one kilometer from his house in Litroo.
As per his neighbors of Hassan, Javed had been drinking for several weeks and had been under the influence of some drugs. “we caught him several times roaming naked o the roads and every time, he was drunk. Just yesterday he was caught by Police in Pahalgam when he was found roaming naked on the Pahalgam streets and handed over tp the family,” they said.
On Friday morning, he took off his clothes and said that he would visit his sister. “We tried to persuade him to wear clothes after which he hit me with a stick twice at my head. I started bleeding and some neighbours rushed to the house,” Ghulam Hassan said.
He, then, took his mother with him and within a distance of not more than fifty metres from the house attacked his mother who died on the spot. “Two more neighbours who tried to stop him were also injured whe he attacked them,” the locals said.
They said it was a time when people were coming out of the bakers shops after getting their morning bread and Javed went on a rampage and attacked everyone, whom he saw on the way to Asihmuqam.
Eventually, a group of local youth caught hold of him and handed him over to the Police. “He was under the influence of alcohol. one could easily sense the smell,” they said.
As per an official who spoke to The Kashmiriyat, at least eight people were injured in the attack, while three identified Ghulam Nabi Khadim, Hajira Banoo (mother), and Mohammed Amin Shah died on the way to the hospital.
The official said that Javid attacked everyone who he saw on the way to the Aishmuqam town. “As of now, we know that he had been consuming a lot of alcohol,” he said.
The official said that Javed Hassan Rather, the accused, has been arrested by the local Police. “The bodies have been taken for post-mortem after which the bodies will be handed over to their legal heirs,” the official told The Kashmiriyat.