All 3 buried ‘militants’ identified as innocent civilians

“One shot into each youth’s head in point blank range” established as cause of death

Exhumation, post-mortem conducted
under heavy rains at Kalaroos

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, May 28: All the three persons, killed and labeled by Army as “unidentified militants” on April 29th evening and subsequently buried by residents of Kalaroos village in a local graveyard, today turned out to be innocent civilians when respective family members identified them during a day-long procedure of exhumation and autopsy under heavy rains in Kupwara district. Even as the dead bodies were carried all the way to Rafiabad area of Baramulla district for a fresh funeral peacefully, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has not only ordered a magisterial inquiry but also made it clear to senior Defence authorities that the troops involved in the gruesome fake encounter---including a Major---would have to be arrested and handed over to Police for a proper investigation.

Informed sources in north Kashmir told Early Times that family members and relatives of three missing youth of Nadihal, Rafiabad (Baramulla district), today submitted a formal application to District Magistrate of Kupwara, Showkat Ahmed Mir, with the submission that permission be granted to exhumation of three dead bodies that had been buried as “unidentified militants” in the community graveyard at Kalaroos village of Kupwara in the first week of May. Residents of Kalaroos had conducted the funeral after they received the three dead bodies from Police Division Kalaroos with an Army report according to which these “unidentified militants” had died in an encounter with troops of 4-Rajput at Doshat Post, Tanakpur, across Sonapindi Galli on the LoC, in Machhil sector during the night intervening April 29 and 30.

Police Division Kalaroos had arranged the funeral after case FIR No: 76 of 2010 was registered by Kupwara Police on the report submitted by the troops of 4-Rajput headed by Maj Bhupinder Singh. Even as the case for cash reward of Rs 6 Lakhs for killing the three “unidentified militants” was processed at the level of Commanding Officer, D K Pathania, Maj Bhupinder and his unit shifted their base to Meerath last weekend.

On the proper permission from DM of Kupwara, Police and civil administration conducted the exhumation under heavy rains at Kalaroos graveyard. SP Kupwara, Mohammad Yousuf Mir, Tehsildar Kupwara, Pir Abdul Rasheed, SHOs of Police Stations of Kupwara and Panzla (Rafiabad), village headman of Nadihal, Ghulam Rasool Ahangar, Chowkidar Bashir Ahmed Ganai and PDP’s MLA of Lolab, Abdul Haq Khan supervised the exhumation process. Family members of the three missing youth---Riyaz Ahmed Lone S/o Mohammad Yousuf Lone (20), Mohammad Shafi Lone S/o Abdul Rasheed Lone (22), both unmarried, and Shehzad Ahmed Khan S/o Ghulam Mohammad Khan, married (27)--- were present on the occasion alongwith nearly 100 fellow villagers.

Sources present on spot said that Mohammad Yousuf Lone and Abdul Rasheed Lone identified their sons, namely Riyaz Ahmed Lone and Mohammad Shafi Lone, while as one Showkat Ahmed Khan identified the third exhumed body as that of his missing brother, Shehzad Ahmed Khan, amid emotional scenes.

These three civilians had gone missing from their respective homes on April 29th. After they did not reach back for over a week, family members filed a missing report at Police Station Panzla on May 10th which was ultimately converted into case Fir No: 23 of 2010 under sections 364 RPC (kidnapping). Family members and residents sought permission for exhumation and identification of the three unidentified dead bodies after the photograph of one “unidentified militant”, shown to them by SP Sopore, Altaf Khan, matched with the physical features of a missing youth.

Sources said that after proper identification, the dead bodies were carried to Public Health Centre, Kalaroos, where a team of doctors collected necessary bone and flesh material and conducted the post mortem for over two hours. Block Medical Officer of Sogam, Dr Farooq Qureshi, Dr Firdaus, Dr Nazir and Dr Javed conducted the autopsy procedure. Sources involved in the operation revealed to Early Times that all the three youth were found to have been hit with one shot each into head in point blank range that was prima facie established as the cause of death. “There’s no evidence of the youth having died in an encounter. They seem to have been killed in cold blood, with just one gunshot in everybody’s head”, said a source. Doctors said on record that they would be submitting a detailed post mortem report to the authorities only after completing all formalities in a couple of days.

In the evening, dead bodies were carried to Police Station Panzla. Officials said that these would be handed over to respective families at Nadihal for a fresh funeral late tonight or in the forenoon tomorrow. Reports from Baramulla said that after concluding Friday prayers, residents of Watirgam, Ladoora, Nadihal and adjoining villagers put up a protest demonstration while shouting pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans. They, however, dispersed within an hour as rains intensified and SP Sopore pacified the angry crowds with an assurance that nobody, involved in the gruesome killings, would be spared. He told the gathering that Chief Minister was personally monitoring the situation and he was continuously in touch with senior Defence authorities and Government of India, including Defence Minister and Prime Minister.

Demonstrators demanded that the troopers involved, including Major (Bhupinder Singh), be arrested by Police on the pattern of a BSF Commanding Officer’s arrest in the Zahid Farooq killing case in Brain area of Nishat earlier this year.

Late in the evening, when the dead bodies reached in Nadihal village in an ambulance, hundreds of residents, joined by a large number of PDP workers from about a dozen villages, put up an anti-Government demonstration. Men in the crowd even attacked the ambulance and shattered its windscreens. Sources said that SP Sopore, Altaf Khan, who was himself traveling in the ambulance, had a narrow escape as he managed to hide himself under a seat.

Sharing details of the 16-day-long investigation with Early Times, Police sources revealed that respective family members of the three youth knew it well that a local youth of counter-insurgent background, namely Bashir Ahmed Lone S/o Ghulam Nabi Lone R/o Nadihal, had taken the trio to Kalaroos, Kupwara, on April 27th and dropped them back at their village after paying them an amount of Rs 2,000. He had taken them for working as porters with Army. In company of another counter-insurgent, namely Abdul Hamid Bhat S/o Abdul Gaffar Bhat R/o Kawanar, Sheri (Baramulla) and a Rifleman of Territorial Army 161 Bn, namely Abbas Hussain Shah S/o Qallandar Shah R/o Basgaran, Uri, Bashir Ahmed Lone had again taken the trio via Baramulla in a Tata Sumo to Kalaroos on April 29th. No missing report or FIR of kidnapping was filed for over a week.

After the missing report was filed, Police observed that Bashir Lone was involved in the kidnapping. He was arrested and interrogated. With the help of the Call Detail Record (CDR) of Bashir Lone, Police discovered the presence of the missing youth, as well as Lone and his two associates, in Kalaroos area on April 29th. During sustained questioning, Lone spilled the beans and revealed how his associates, Abdul Hamid and Abbas Shah, had carried the three Nadihal youth to Kalaroos. It was observed that Maj Bhupinder Singh got all the three killed in a fake encounter at the hands of his 4-Rajput troops, labeled them all “infiltrating militants killed in an encounter” and finally got them buried after registration of an FIR at Kalaroos.

According to these sources, Bashir Lone revealed that Maj Bhupinder Singh had paid him and two of his associates Rs 1,50,000 (@ Rs 50,000 each person) for arranging trapping of the three youth whose death as “unidentified militants” in turn would fetch the troops cash reward of Rs 600,000 (@Rs 200,000 each).

SP Sopore, Altaf Khan, said that all the three persons, including the soldier of Territorial Army, have been properly arrested and interrogated by Police and the missing report has been accordingly converted into case FIR NO: 23 of 2010 under section 364 RPC. He said that in the wake of the identification of the dead bodies today, it was being converted into a plain murder case under section 302 RPC and related provisions of law.

END