Where are the three Kupwara missing?

On November 17, three civilians from two Kupwara villages went missing. However, after waiting in vain for their return, their families lodged a missing report on November 28 at Trehgam police station. They told the police that a Territorial Army man Manzoor Khawaja had lured them away on the promise of jobs as porters in the army. The missing villagers, the families alleged,  were in touch with Khawaja before their mysterious disappearance. Police have now arrested the soldier and he has reportedly even confessed to meeting the villagers. But the disappeared are yet to be traced.  The missing men have been identified as Ghulam Jeelani Khatana, 46, Mir Hussain 50, and Ali Muhammad Sheikh 40, and they hail from Kralpora and Dardpora villages. Incidentally, the soldier also hails from Dardpora. 

Their disappearance and the apparent involvement of a local security man has brought back in public memory the 2010 Machil fake encounter where also the three  Kashmiri youth – Shehzad Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Mohammad Shafi – from Baramulla’s Naid Khai village  had been lured to Kalaroos in Kupwara by the Army informers Bashir Ahmad Lone and Abdul Hamid  on the promise of job and money and later shot dead and dubbed as the terrorists infiltrating from Pakistan. The discovery that the killings were fake had touched off a torrent of protests in Valley lasting five months. Around 120 youth – most of them teenagers – were killed in the unrest.

Are Kralpora and Dardpora disappearances yet another potential case of a fake encounter? Nothing can be said with certainty so long as the bodies are not recovered. In case of Machil, the families identified the bodies after the youth were shot dead near Sona Pindi along Line of Control. So far four militants have been killed in Kupwara since the disappearance of the three villagers but none of them bore any resemblance to the latter. Families didn’t recognize them as their own when police showed the photographs to them.  The missing persons have large families with the oldest of them Mir Hussain being the father of six children. 

However, police investigation so far has revealed very little. But this has only set the Valley agog with speculations as to the fate of the men. Two major possibilities which are being discussed is the villagers being killed in a fake encounter or sent across the LoC, possibly to collect information for the Army. 

On Tuesday, the people in the areas of Kupwara held protest at Trehgam on Kupwara-Baramulla road against the disappearance. The protesters shouted anti-Army slogans and rubbished the police explanation that the villagers must have crossed LoC to collect information for Indian Army.  And they have strong reasons to believe this. First, because two of the villagers are in their mid forties and over the past 25 years of militancy rarely have middle-aged persons with families taken up gun.  And second, if the villagers had crossed LoC to gain information about the presence of militants, they would have at least taken their families into confidence as they are married with children. 

Now, the Army has ordered a probe into the disappearance.  General officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Satish Dua has assured that if the role of Army is established, action will follow. But so far an otherwise easy case has defied explanation. That is even after the soldier who allegedly lured the missing has admitted to being in touch with them.  But it is important for the government and the security agencies to tell truth to the people. That is, if people are to believe that the things have changed for the better since Machil fake encounter and the subsequent life imprisonment awarded to the guilty personnel by the Army.

Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now

CLICK FOR DETAILS