Bisma Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 17: Family members of slain Fateh Kadal youth, Rayees Ahmad Hanga, who was killed during the encounter on Wednesday, said their son was taken away by the cops before the gunfight started.
During the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, government forces laid siege at Syed Ali Akbar neighborhood of Fateh Kadal area. A gunfight ensued early morning culminating in the killing of two militants, a cop and the son of the house owner.
Rayees, the slain civilian, was dubbed an “active accomplice” of the slain militants, Mehrajudin Bangroo and Faid Mushtaq Waza.
His family, however, claims Rayees was innocent.
With moist eyes, a family member of Rayees, who did not wish to be named, said: “Around midnight, Rayees was taken out from the house by the policemen who barged in. He was told to accompany them in carrying the search operation but at 7 in the morning, we heard that he was killed and taken to the police control room.”
Father of Rayees, Habibullah Hanga after hearing the news of his son, suffered heart attack and was immediately taken to hospital where he is being treated, the family said.
Married and father to a two-month old baby boy, Rayees, the family member said, ran a bakery shop on the ground floor of the house.
Besides losing their son, the family was also witness to their house being razed to the ground by the government forces in the encounter.
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