The three families from south Kashmir, whose kins were killed in Lawaypora gunfight last year, on Thursday demanded a SIT probe into the killing.
According to police, the three youths — Zubair Ahmad Lone (20) of Turkwangam in Shopian, and Athar Mushtaq (16) and Ajaz Maqbool (22) of Pulwama — were killed in an operation launched by the Army based on inputs.
The trio’s family according to lacal news gathering agency KNO asked authorities to break silence on the gunfight and either prove their wards militants or return the bodies.
Mushtaq Wani, father of Athar Mushtaq questioned the government’s silence on the issue.
“Two weeks have passed but no investigation has been ordered. We too were silent as we had given time to the authorities to prove that our sons were militants but they have failed to do so,” Wani was quoted as saying by KNO. “Authorities must start the investigation at the earliest.”
Family members of Zubair Ahmad also said that if any way authorities can prove their son was a militant, they will never seek his body.
“However, if they have failed to get single evidence against him, then they must return his body and punish the culprits who killed him,” they said.
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Earlier, On Jan 08, J&K L-G, Manoj Sinha had said that he is “looking into the facts” related to the alleged gunfight on the outskirts of Srinagar city late last month in which security forces killed three youths who, they claimed, were “militants”.
“I want to say this with all responsibility that if anything is found suspicious in the matter, I will definitely get it probed,’’ Sinha had said earlier. Adding that all the details have come to me and I am looking into them. You will get an appropriate answer at the appropriate time.
According tp the families of trio killed in Srinagar gunfight, the youths had gone to Srinagar for some work. While Zubair’s two brothers are working in J-K Police, Ajaz was the son of a policeman.
“My brother was home that day (December 29, last year) till 2 pm. How could he become a militant within two hours (when the alleged gunfight started)? There was no record with any security agency against him. We want a probe. There was a similar incident in Shopian. There also they claimed to have recovered weapons from the dead militants. But they, too, turned out to be civilians,” said Mohammad Shafi Lone, brother of Zubair.
The families have also demanded the return of the bodies of the youths. “I want justice. I don’t need money. I only want the body of my son. He was only 16,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, father of Athar Mushtaq.