The Hurriyat conference has expressed “grave concern” and anguish over the cold-blooded custodial killings of young boys arrested and then killed in so-called “encounters with militants“, while in police custody.
In a press release, Hurriyat said, Shahid Ahmad Tantray, a resident of Shirpora Kulgam, was allegedly killed “during a gunfight with militants” while in police custody. The slain was arrested by police as a so-called “hybrid militant.
“This is the second such custodial killing in just over a month, in south Kashmir as another youth labelled a hybrid militant Imran Bashir Ganaie was arrested and later killed in a similar fashion, while he was taken to identify a militant hideout,” Hurriyat said in its statement.
Hurriyat said that labelling young boys as so-called “hybrid militants “, “Overground militant workers”, and “militant sympathisers “ and then arresting them with impunity under draconian laws has become a routine in Kashmir.
Thousands of young men arrested from all parts of J&K in such a manner are languishing in jails without trial. Now with these killings, the situation has become sinister as the lives of these arrested young men are in grave danger while in custody, read the Hurriyat statement.
APHC has appealed to all conscientious people of India and the world, and rights organisations to take note of these killings and raise their voices and asks for a probe into these killings by independent agencies, the statement concluded.