Srinagar: Families of three ‘militants’ killed in a gunfight at Lawaypora area of Srinagar Wednesday staged protest outside Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar, claiming that their kins were innocent.
General officer Commanding (GoC) Kilo Force H S Sahi Wednesday said that three militants were killed in an encounter at Lawaypora on Srinagar outskirts.
However, families of these three persons refuted the claims of police, alleging they were innocents and had no links with militancy.
Bashir Ahmad Ganie, grandfather of Aijaz Maqbool, one of the slain said, “Yesterday at 10 a.m., he had tea with me and I swear about it. He was a student,” said
“Aijaz is the son of a policeman Mohammad Maqbool Ganie who is posted in Ganderbal,” the elderly man told reporters outside PCR here .
The families of two others—Ather Mushtaq Wani (class 11th student as per family) son of Mushtaq Ahmad Wani from Bellow Pulwama and Zubair Ahmad Lone (carpenter) from Turkewagan Shopain also protested and claimed they were innocents.
The families said that slain Athar and Junaid from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district were innocent and had left home yesterday to get admission in a tuition point here for Class 12th session. “Both are students and appeared in the Class 11th examinations,” cousin brother of Athar said. The families demanded justice and appealed the higher ups to look into the matter.
Police could not be immediately contacted for the comments even as on twitter it said that three militants were killed in the gunfight. The names were revealed by the families and have not been officially revealed by the police so far. ( With Inputs from KNO and GNS)