Pulwama erupts over civilian’s killing in gunbattle
Residents blame troops, Army calls it ‘death in crossfiring’

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ

SRINAGAR, Jan 24: Death of yet another youth during the course of Army’s counter-insurgency operation in Pulwama district today led to a massive demonstration as the residents of Rajpora area held the security forces responsible for the civilian’s killing in the encounter.

Informed sources in South Kashmir told Early Times that over a specific information regarding the dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen commander Fayaz Pir’s presence with another militant at the village headman Ghulam Ahmed Mir’s house at Kalampora, in Shadimarg area of Pulwama district late last evening, troops of Rashtriya Rifles 44 Bn alongwith a Police party launched a cordon-and-search operation. During the course of operation, a shootout took place in which the house owner’s 36-year-old son, Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, got killed and a soldier sustained injuries.

Sources said that recovery of Mushtaq Ahmed Mir’s dead body sent shock waves around as the family members and other villagers gathered back to raise an uproar. Even as troops prevented their advances to Mir’s house, hue and cry by the residents over the youth’s death disturbed the operation. During the melee, both the holed up militants managed to escape.

Commanders of the operation insist that Fayaz Pir escaped after he was hit at least once in his body. Security forces later called off the operation. They conducted searches with the help of sniffer dogs in two adjoining villages, monitored mobile phone traffic and tracked radio intercepts but failed to get any clue regarding the militants’ new hideout. Two days ago, three holed up militants had similarly managed to escape from a cordoned group of houses at Rampora, near Kaimoh village, in Kulgam district of South Kashmir.

Sources said that troops, Police and intelligence sleuths had put Rajpora and Kaimoh localities under surveillance as they were hopeful that all five of the escapees would be dealt with effectively with the support of residents. Sources said that Police Station Rajpora registered two FIRs on the conflicting versions of the Army and residents of Kalampora village today.

According to the reports received from Pulwama, hundreds of residents of Kalampora and adjoining villages gathered and put up a massive demonstration against Army and Police with the allegation that they had forced Mushtaq Ahmed to enter the militants’ room with a torch against his will and thus got him killed. Some of the residents even asserted that Army had directly fired upon the house owner’s son after sending him with the command of surrender to the militants.

The demonstrators demanded registration of FIR against Army, arrest and suspension of the soldiers allegedly responsible and ex gratia relief, including a government job, to the bereaved family. After a great deal of persuasion by SSP Pulwama, Syed Kifayat Hyder, who was called back from a condolence meeting at his uncle’s home in Srinagar, people of the area allowed post mortem of the dead body at a local hospital. They enforced shutdown in Rajpora-Pulwama belt but conducted Mushtaq Ahmed Mir’s funeral peacefully. Later in the evening, reports said that the dead body was buried amid pro-Azadi and anti-India and anti-Government slogans.

IGP Kashmir, Farooq Ahmed, told Early Times that Police and security forces had launched a manhunt to get Fayaz Pir. He said it was simultaneously being looked into whether Mushtaq Ahmed Mir had been pushed to the death trap by commanders of the operation, as alleged by residents, or he had died in a routine incident of cross-firing between the two sides.

Defence PRO at headquarters 15 Corps claimed in a statement that the allegations of troops having directly killed Mushtaq and that he had been forced to enter the death trap were baseless. He asserted that the civilian got killed in the crossfiring between the militants and security forces.

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