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Have asked admn to probe Srinagar encounter: BJP
While the security forces have maintained they were militants, the youths’ families have vouched for their innocence.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) J&K unit on Sunday said they have asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to investigate the Lawaypora encounter in Srinagar in which three youths alleged to be militants were killed by security forces on December 30.
While the security forces have maintained they were militants, the youths’ families have vouched for their innocence.
BJP general secretary Ashok Koul told the media during an event here, “The administration is going to investigate the matter. If anything wrong is found with the encounter, it will be rectified.”
Party spokesperson Altaf Thakur also confirmed Koul’s statement.
Three youths Zubair Ahmad (24) of Turkawangam, Shopian; Ajaz Maqbool (22) and Athar Mushtaq (17) of Putrigam, Pulwama, were killed in an encounter with the police and army at Lawaypora, Srinagar, on December 30.
While the police and army have said the trio was killed in exchange of fire at Hokersar-Lawaypora, their families have rebutted the claim of security forces and said the youths were civilians. Athar was a Class 11 student, Aijaz was pursuing graduation while Zubair was a skilled worker, according to their families and the trio had been home a day before the killings.
Almost all the mainstream political parties in Kashmir have raised questions over the encounter after the claims of the families.
However, the police have rejected these claims while promising to probe the case from all possible angles. “Background check also reveals that Aijaz and Ather Mushtaq, both overground workers of militants, variously provided logistic support to terrorists. Antecedents and verifications too show that both were radically inclined and had aided terrorists of LeT (now so-called TRF) outfit,” police have said in a statement.
