Vikram Raj/ Yasir Yousuf
Terrified and shocked, tears are rolling down the cheeks of all inmates in the house of Imran Ahmed Dar, who was killed in an encounter in the Munar area of Yaripora in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Scenes inside the house would tear apart any human heart, an Inconsolable mother, a father holding the portrait of Imran weeping loudly and repeating in a low voice, “Fathers should never have to bury their children.”
On Sunday, the Government Forces early morning laid a cordon and search operation in the Yaripora area of Kulgam. The Jammu Kashmir Police issued a press release, that a Militant had been killed during the exchange of gunfire. The Police also said that they had made recoveries from the Militant. In a normal army nomenclature in Kashmir, recovery is a reference to Arms and Ammunition made from the slain Militant.
Hours later, Abdul Quyoom Dar (Government employee by profession) got a call that his son has been killed during the encounter. “It was a shocker to us all, my brother had no distant affiliation to Militancy, the whole village we live in is in utter disbelief of Imran having died in an encounter.” Local residents The Kashmiriyat spoke to said that a day ahead of the Encounter Imran had been spotted near the petrol pump which is not more than 200 metres away from his home in Batengoo.
“He had a small argument with me, after which he left home on Thursday. Since then, he was staying with his friends and we had been in touch with all of them. On Saturday night around 9:30 PM, I saw him near the petrol pump. I shouted at him loudly asking him to return home,” Abdul Quyoom, his father said.
The next day, around 8 AM, Quyoom remembers, he got a call from the Police Station asking him to reach the Local Police station. The Police followed their standard operating procedure and buried Imran in North Kashmir miles away from his home in Down South. The family followed the trail of the dead body, however, they could not reach Handwara before Imran had been buried along with three other Militants killed in Bandipora.
One day after the death of his son, Abdul Quyoom Dar of Batengoo area in Anantnag knocked at the door of the Deputy commissioner in Anantnag district of South Kashmir and claimed that his son had been killed in a Fake encounter. The family demanded the lodgement of an FIR against the accused. Also, the family demanded an impartial probe into the incident.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat the father of Imran said that the officials in the Administration have promised them full support and said that they will soon launch an enquiry into the encounter and the killing of Imran during the encounter.
The Kashmiriyat contacted the Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag who confirmed receiving the letter from the family and said that he will look into this matter. ‘The family has approached me and i will try to help them as much as possible.”