A day after Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik asked United Jihad Council (UJC) chief Syed Sallahuddin to announce a probe and come clear on killing of innocent people in North Kashmir's Sopore area, many mainstream political parties have denounced the statement saying militants have no role in investigating the killings.
While speaking to press on Wednesday, Malik had said there were two guns in the state -- a militant gun and the state gun (militants and soldiers) and both were condemning the killing of employees of the telecom companies.
"UJC has condemned the attacks, I can't ask the government but I will ask Syed Sallahuddin to probe and then find out who is responsible for killing of the innocent people in Sopore,'' Mallik said.
Calling the statement "self-styled from a self-styled leader,'' the ruling PDP said that Malik's remarks are of "no substance."
"Police are investigating the case and they would not react just because some self-styled leader has said something,'' said Waheed ur Rehman Parra.
The BJP also said that "such statements will not be allowed.''
While Malik offered no explanation, a source close to him said that he was "asking the militants to point out the culprits if they were not involved.'' Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and head of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Sallahudin had condemned the Sopore killings. Geelani had called the killings "acts of terrorism."
{{/usCountry}}While Malik offered no explanation, a source close to him said that he was "asking the militants to point out the culprits if they were not involved.'' Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and head of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Sallahudin had condemned the Sopore killings. Geelani had called the killings "acts of terrorism."
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, cellular services remained affected in Sopore after militants killed two persons working with telecom companies earlier this week. Another person was seriously injured when unknown gunmen shot at him in Pattan late on Wednesday evening. The man has been identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad Nadroo, 25, a resident of Saad Mohalla Pattan, was the brother of a person who has rented out the space for installing a cellular tower.
Most of the mobile tower operators have shut down signal after unknown gunmen killed owner of a mobile tower in Sopore, 50 km from Srinagar late on Tuesday evening. This was the second killing in two days when the employees or those associated with telecom are being directly targeted by militants.
All the outlets of cellular companies in Sopore town in Baramulla district are shut since May 1, the day when unknown pistol-borne masked men simultaneously raided Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone outlets in the town asking them to stop operations.