SRINAGAR: Ten days after the Hyderpora encounter, the family of one of the four slain men has demanded a judicial probe to verify the police claim that their son was a militant and sought a meeting with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to demand justice.
Abdul Lateef Magray, the father of Amir Magray, told The New Indian Express that the family wanted a judicial probe into the encounter. "My son was not a militant. He was innocent and working as an office boy in the office of Dr Mudasir. Police are wrongly claiming he was a militant. All the three killed in the encounter were not militants. They were civilians and have been murdered," he said.
Police had said Pakistani militant Haider Bhai, his associate Amir Magray, OGW Mudasir Gul and businessman Altaf Bhat were killed in the Hyderpora encounter. But, the families of Amir, Mudasir and Altaf allege that the trio was killed in a staged encounter.
Lateef, who has once killed a militant, said the Ramban Deputy Commissioner told him that the body of his son cannot be handed as the Kashmir IG has been saying that he was militant. "My son was not a militant. How can the son of a person, who has fought against militants and taken bullets, be a militant? We want judicial inquiry to ascertain the facts."
"We have submitted an application in the DC's office and officials have assured us that they will fix our meeting with L-G. We will seek justice from L-G and also request him to hand over the body of our son for proper burial," he said.
Jammu & Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh takes on Mehbooba for doubting gunfight
Jammu & Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh hit out at PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti for casting doubts on the encounter in Rambagh. "There are people who somehow understand the reality but try to say something which is away from the reality. There are many people active on social media, who are trying to cast aspersions on the killing of militants," he said.