Hyderpora gunfight: Families deny police claims, demand bodies of loved ones

Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone, said that Dr Mudasir Gul and Amir Magray were militant associates while Altaf Ahmad was killed in cross firing.

Srinagar: It was in 2005 when Abdul Latif killed a Lashkar militant with a stone. With the security of his family threatened due to his association with the Indian Army, Latif's family has been living under a security detail ever since. Considering himself a true Indian, Latif's beliefs were shaken on Tuesday, when he received the news of his son, Amir Ahmad Magray's death.

Magray, a resident of Sangaldan Gool of Ramban district, was one of the four people killed in Tuesday's encounter in Hyderpora, Srinagar. Police said that the slain was working as an associate of foreign militant Haider aka Bilal Bhai, a claim vehemently denied by the family. They say that Amir was a labourer who had gone to Srinagar to earn a livelihood. The family demands Amir's body so that they could give him a proper funeral. They claimed that Magray was innocent and was killed in cold blood.

Hundreds of unemployed youth from the Chenab and Pir Panchal region of Jammu province go to the valley to earn a livelihood every year.

District Administration in Ramban has imposed Section 144 in a bid to curtail further protests by the kith and kin of Amir Ahmad Magray.

Additional District Magistrate Ramban while invoking section 144 of CrPc directed SSP Ramban to implement the restrictions from 9 AM this morning till further orders, to maintain law and order and public tranquillity in the area.

Family members of Muhammad Altaf Bhat and Dr Mudasir Gul, who were also killed in the Hyderpora encounter, continued their sit-in protest at the Press Enclave in Srinagar on Wednesday, demanding the bodies of their beloved.

Muhammad Altaf Bhat was the owner of the private building where the 'gun fight' broke out. Gul, a dental surgeon turned businessman, had been a tenant in the building. Gul's family say that he was a property dealer, however, the police have claimed that he was running an illegal call centre in the building, that was being used "to provide logistic support to the active terrorists."

According to a press release from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, they had received specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in an illegal call centre in a private building in the Hyderpora area of Srinagar. Following this, a joint cordon and search operation (CASO) was launched in the area by the J&K Police, 2RR and CRPF.

Police said that the owner of the building, Altaf Ahmad, as well as the tenant, Mudasir Ahmad, were called to accompany the search party in order "to show the suspect call centre in the building." The police said that the militants opened indiscriminate fire on the search party which was retaliated.

Both Bhat and Gul succumbed to the injuries in the fire and two others - Amir and Haider aka Bilal Bhai, a militant from Pakistan, were killed in the firefight.

The police said that incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two pistols, three magazines, six mobile phones and other equipment were recovered from the site of the encounter.

Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone, said that Dr Mudasir Gul and Amir Magray were militant associates while Altaf Ahmad was killed in cross firing.

“Today, we are protesting to seek the body of slain Altaf back without any delay. If the police don't give us his body back, we will block all roads and protest on streets,” Dr Haneef Ahmed, brother of Altaf said.

He further said that all the former chief ministers—Omar Abdullah, his father Dr Farooq Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, and other politicians should move beyond Twitter and join the families in protests

“Today, this has happened to us and tomorrow it may happen with you also. We also appeal to all Muslims, Sikhs and Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir to stand with us,” Haneef said, adding, "When IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar has himself admitted that Altaf was a civilian and was killed in a crossfire, what prompted him to take my brother’s body to Handwara for burial.”

“We appeal to the IGP to return to us the body of Altaf and at the same time we seek LG Manoj Sinha’s intervention too into the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, relatives of Dr Mudasir Gul also protested and demanded that his body be handed over to them.

"We have an 18-month-old daughter who has been calling her Baba's (father's) name since yesterday but there is no response," Gul's widow Humaira said.

While demanding justice, she said, "My husband was not a militant supporter. My only demand is justice and body be returned without further delay."

"I returned to Srinagar from Jammu some time ago. I wanted to participate in the protests at press colony but was not allowed, " former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti told ETV Bharat.

"The police had set up a barricade and my vehicles were not allowed to move towards the Press Colony," the president of the People's Democratic Party(PDP) said.

National Conference(NC) spokesman Imran Nabi Dar said that party president Farooq Abdullah has spoken to LG Manoj Sinha and reiterated his demand for an impartial probe into the civilian killings.

The families protested till late evening in Press Enclave and held a candlelight protest in which NC and PDP members participated.

NC youth leader Salman Sagar, spokesman Imran Nabi and PDP spokesman Najm-u-Saqib participated in the protests.

There is no official word yet from the LG administration on the demands on providing a proper funeral for the departed.

It may be recalled, three youths from Rajouri district were killed in a 'gun fight' in Shopian district last year and were declared to be militants by the army. Investigations later revealed that the three young men were civilians.