3 suspected militants found dead in Pattan

Geelani’s silence leads to speculations that the young men have been killed in Hizbul Mujahideen's factional feud

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Sep 14: Missing from their respective homes in northern Kashmir for some time and believed to be working with Hizbul Mujahideen’s rebel group led by Qayyum Najar of Sopore, three suspected militants were found dead in an orchard in Pattan area of Baramulla district on Monday. Even as one-odd condemnation poured in from Mirwaiz Umer Farooq's faction of the Hurriyat Conference, other separatist leaders----most notably hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani----chose to remain tightlipped, raising speculations that the three youths have died in Hizbul Mujahideen's factional feud.

Authoritative sources told STATE TIMES that Police and the residents recovered three human bodies from an apple orchard between Such and Dangarpora villages on Pattan-Nihalpora Road on Monday afternoon. Eyewitnesses said that all the three bodies bore physical torture marks besides AK-47 gunshots. However, there were no empties around the spot, making it clear that the youths had been killed at some different place and their bodies had been subsequently dropped in the orchard, around 8 km from Pattan.

Ending hours of mystery and confusion, Police got the slain youths identified as Naveed Ahmad Sheikh s/o Mohammad Rajab Sheikh r/o Batpora Sopore, Aamir Ahmad Rishi s/o Ghulam Qadir Rishi r/o Imbarzalwari Payeen Hardushiva Sopore and Ashiq Hussain Wani s/o Mohammad Ramzan Wani r/o Lolipora Pattan. According to Police records, they were missing from their residences respectively since October 2014, July 2015 and June 2014. All the three were believed to have joined Hizbul Mujahideen but subsequently sided with Najar and his Lashkar-e-Islam.

Naveed, doing B. Tech with a University in Chandigarh, had gone into hiding in autumn of 2014. Originally from Ashtengo Bandipore, he lived at Batpora Sopore with his mother and her second husband Ghulam Hassan Khan.

Deputy Inspector General of Police in North Kashmir, Gareeb Das, maintained that the slain youths appeared to be the militants of a rebel faction of Hizbul Mujahideen. He said that Police had registered a criminal matter and started the investigation.

Reports said that immediately after the seizure of bodies, some youths levelled allegations of custodial killing against the security forces and clashed with Police and CRPF at three places on Pattan-Baramulla Road. Spokesperson of Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat faction was quick to strongly condemn the three killings. However, as soon as the bodies were identified and the word spread that the youths could have been killed by the Hizbul Mujahideen’s principal faction led by Salahuddin, demonstrators withdrew silently.

Significantly, neither Geelani nor any other separatist hardliner reacted to the mysterious triple murder. None of the militant or separatist organisations called for a protest shutdown till late on Monday night. This was an indication of a factional feud between militants in North Kashmir. A section of officials insisted that Hizbul Mujahideen had begun to crush the rebellion challenging authority, credibility and relevance of the pro-Pakistan leaders like Geelani and Syed Salah-ud-din. In a statement earlier this year, Hizb chief had expelled Najar and held his loyalists guilty of innocent civilian killings. His statement claimed that Lashkar-e-Islam, which had launched a campaign to shut mobile telephony with guerrilla strikes, was not a bonafide militant organisation.

Senior Police officers were appalled at the reports that the three youths----in age group of 17 to 20 years----had been kidnapped, carried to a long distance, apparently tortured and shot dead at one unknown place and their bodies were finally dropped at another place without being noticed by Police and security forces. They revealed to STATE TIMES that according to recent reports, a fresh group of 15 to 18 militants of Hizbul Mujahideen had set up base in Pattan-Tangmarg belt. In entire Baramulla district, only one encounter took place in the current year at Hardushora Tangmarg where both the holed up militants escaped while killing one SPO and a soldier.

"This fresh group is still dormant. It has the capacity to strike but doesn’t attack Police or security forces as its priority is to establish a strong and wider network before going proactive. We have strong reasons to believe that the same group has eliminated three of Qayyum Najar's cadres today and two more in the last two months----one each in Sumbal and Sopore", said a well placed official.

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(Published in today's STATE TIMES and the blog aafayyaz.blogspot.in )