A school teacher was found dead with his throat slit in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Wednesday, a week after three militants were killed in a gunbattle with security forces at his house, police said.
Officials said the body of Aijaz Ahmad of Wathoo village was found in an open field a few kilometres from his house.
According to the police, a hand-written note was found with his belongings that said he was killed “to avenge the death of the three militants in Gattipora’’.
“We cannot say who wrote it. We are investigating all angles,’’ Shopian’s superintendent of police Shriram Dinkar Ambarkar said.
The three militants affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an encounter with police and security forces in Gattipora area of Shopian district on October 10.
The letter that was written in Urdu also warned people “working with the army or police’’ with dire consequences.
“We have names of all those working with security forces and this is the last warning for them,’’ the letter said.
Locals said Ahmad reportedly featured in a video, which was posted by a newspaper on its website, as “being helped out of the encounter site by jawans’’. Security forces normally evacuate civilians trapped in encounter sites during gunfights.
{{/usCountry}}Locals said Ahmad reportedly featured in a video, which was posted by a newspaper on its website, as “being helped out of the encounter site by jawans’’. Security forces normally evacuate civilians trapped in encounter sites during gunfights.
{{/usCountry}}However, there is no official confirmation about the teacher featuring in the video.
A mob set ablaze the house of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader on Tuesday, who was allegedly killed by militants on Monday night at Humhuna in Shopian district.
Sources suggested that the people were blaming the family for the death of the militant, Shaukat Kumar, from Shopian.