Ramban- The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in the Hyderpora encounter in Srinagar, on Wednesday rejected the police probe which suggested that his son was a militant, and said he is moving the High Court seeking the return of his body.
The special investigation team (SIT) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, probing the Hyderpora encounter, on Tuesday said while one civilian was killed by the foreign militant, the owner of the building and a local “militant” (Magray) died in the crossfire after being used as a “human shield” by the hiding militant.
A Pakistani militant and three other persons were killed in Hyderpora on November 15 and the police had claimed that all the slain men had links to militancy. The families of the three, alleging foul play, had said that they were innocent, prompting the police to order the inquiry.
This was one of the rare operations carried out jointly by the army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police within the city limits.
“I outrightly reject the police probe as my son can never be a militant or a militant supporter,” Magray’s father Mohd Latief, who has received state award for killing a Lashker-e-Taiba militant in 2007 and several citations for helping security forces to finish militancy from his Gool-Sangaldan block, told PTI.
Latief said he is moving a petition in the Jammu wing of the High Court through his lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat for the return of his son’s body and will also discuss the next course of action.
Rajawat said all the formalities have been completed and they are placing the petition for the return of the body before the registry on Thursday morning.
On Tuesday, SIT head DIG Sujith K Singh, who had led the operation on November 15, virtually gave a clean chit to the security forces but added the team was open to reviewing its findings if any other evidence came to light.
“Our investigation so far has revealed that Dr Mudasir Gul was killed by the foreign terrorist hiding inside the building as his body was recovered from the attic. The security forces did not go to the attic at all during searches or subsequent operation,” Singh told reporters in Srinagar.
Giving details of the investigation, Singh said the probe had revealed that Amir Magray, the employee of Dr Gul, was closely associated with the foreign militant Bilal Bhai who was killed trying to flee.
Mohammad Altaf Bhat (building owner) and Amir were killed in the crossfire with security forces as they were used as a human shield by the foreign terrorist. It is substantiated by the fact the Altaf fell (after being hit by bullets) outside the door, while Amir had managed to run a few more steps and the foreign terrorist’s body was found 83 feet away,” he said.
However, the witnesses on the fateful day including the daughter of the house-owner had claimed on various social media platforms that her father and others were pushed into the house by the army and police personnel and had termed it as a murder.
Lt Gen D P Pandey, commander of strategically located XV corps, had termed the doctor and the businessman as a “hybrid terrorists” but after the public outrage following which the bodies of two civilians were handed over, the senior army officer had to eat a humble pie.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Hyderpora encounter threatened legal action against political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir for making “speculative” statements about the probe.
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