SRINAGAR: The family members of three youths killed in the Lawaypora encounter by security forces have claimed that their wards were innocent and not involved in militancy. Police have said the three were not on their list of militants and launched a thorough investigation in the case.
The families of the deceased youth, who were identified as Zubair Ahmad Lone R/o Turkawangam, Shopian; Aijaz Maqbool Ganai (undergraduate student) and Athar Mushtaq (class 11th student), both hailing from Pulwama, have alleged that the three were innocent and not remotely involved in militancy.
The father of Aijaz is a policeman and two brothers of Zubair are also in the police.
Aijaz’s grandfather Bashir Ahmad Ganai said his grandson was innocent and they don’t know why he was killed.
“We don’t know where he was brought down from a Sumo (cab) and arrested and killed in a fake encounter. They want to kill every Kashmiri,” he said.
“Aijaz is innocent. Why did they kill him? He was studying in third year and we had tea at 10 am on Tuesday and he said he had to go for some work,” Ganai said, adding, “We want answers from officials. We want to know why they killed them. They should also kill us.”
The family members of Athar said he had left home on Tuesday to complete the documentation for admission in a tuition centre in Srinagar. “He is innocent and not a militant. There is no FIR against him.”
Reacting to the families' charge, police said the operation was launched by 2 RR on specific inputs. “Later, police and CRPF had also joined the operation and the three militants were killed in the subsequent gunfight,” a police spokesman said.
He said the three killed militants were not mentioned in the police's “list of militants.”
"But two of them are hardcore associates of militants (OGWs) and one is a relative of top HM commander Rayees Kachroo, who was killed in 2017," he said.
“Reportedly, the third might have joined very recently,” the spokesman said.
On charges that the deceased youth were not involved in militancy, the spokesman said, “Generally parents don’t have an idea about the activities of their wards. Several, after committing militancy incidents like grenade throwing & pistol shooting etc, stay normally with their families.”
He, however, said police is investigating the case and will come to a conclusion soon on merits after a thorough probe.
The Army, however, has maintained the trio was planning a big attack on the highway.
General Officer Commanding (GoC) Kilo Force H S Sahi said the militants were given ample opportunities to surrender but they fired on troops and lobbed grenades.
He said after the initial firing, one of the militants tried to come out of the house, where they were trapped. “However, others fired and lobbed grenades on forces and called him back.”
The GoC said arms and ammunition used by militants indicate that they were planning a big attack on the highway.
Police claimed an AK 47 rifle, two pistols and ammunition and other incriminating material along with some documents were recovered from the encounter site.