A three-year-old boy on Saturday became the youngest ever victim of the ‘unidentified gunmen’ — a term used for armed men neither identified by the police nor by militant groups — as mysterious killings claimed three more lives in the valley in the last 24 hours.
Ghulam Muhammad Bhat (38) and his three-year-old son Burhan Bashir received bullets injuries when unidentified gunmen hurled a grenade and opened indiscriminate firing at them in north Kashmir’s Segipora village in Sopore, 55 km away from Srinagar.
Bhat, who was carrying his three-old-son in the arms, died on the spot with unknown gunmen firing from a close range. However, his son Burhan, who was shifted to Srinagar’s SKIMS Hospital, died on Saturday morning. The incident took place late in the evening on Friday.
The police version, without identifying the gunmen, said, “Assailants fired a grenade first but it did not explode. A volley of bullets was fired, causing grave injures to the duo.”
Bhat was an ex-member of the militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen. Protesters took the body of Bhat to the highway connecting Srinagar with tourist destination Gulmarg.
Just hours after the father-son duo was attacked, the body of a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was recovered from a field of Devbugh village of Tangmarg, 40 km away from Srinagar. Identified as Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Wayil, Pattan area, the killing sparked spontaneous violent protests. Several parts of north Kashmir witnessed a shutdown with shopkeepers closing down shops.
Security forces used tear smoke shells and resorted to aerial firing as people participating in the last rites clashed with the police. Unconfirmed reports suggest the body of the militant has been taken to a nearby police station by the police as protest went out of control.
The latest killings come days after three bodies of the Hizbul Mujahideen militants were recovered from Pattan area on September 14. It remains a mystery who killed the three militants.
Earlier, the police suggested the killings were a result of internal rivalry within the Hizbul Mujahideen factions. However, Hizb supremo Syed Salahuddin claimed the boys killed were of his outfit and were killed allegedly in custody by security forces.
The killings was followed by a separatist-sponsored shutdown across the Kashmir valley and also sparked violent clashes between security forces and protesters.
North Kashmir since May is witnessing a spree of mysterious attacks and killings. Six people, mainly separatist supporters were killed in point-blank attacks, in Sopore. A wave of violent campaign was also launched against the cellular services.
Mysterious killings since May this year in north Kashmir
Noorbagh : Rafiq Akbar Haji (23) was killed on May 25 when the attackers fired inside a BSNL franchise office
Dooru : Ghulam Hassan Dar (50), a former militant, was killed for hosting a mobile tower on May 26.
Sopore town : Sheikh Altaf-ur-Rehman (46), a member Hurriyat’s Geelani faction, was killed ) on his way home from the Sopore hospital on June 9. He remained behind the bars under Public Safety Act
Bomai : Khursheed Ahmad Bhat (35), a shopkeeper, was shot dead at Bomai village on June 13. He faced several cases of stone-throwing.
Badambagh : Mehraj-ud-Din Dar (38) was killed outside the house outside his house on June 14. Dar was once JKLF member.
Mundji : Ijaz Ahmad Reshi (38), a former Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militant, was killedoutside his house on June 15.
Pattan : Bodies of three militants were recovered from a field on September 14
Tangmarg : Body of Hizbul militant was found on September 19
