In a throwback to the 1990s when militants surfaced at public places, four unmasked armed militants on Sunday appeared at the funeral of militant Fayaz Ahmad alias Setha in south Kashmir and offered a ‘gun salute’ in full public gaze. In Saturday’s attack by militants including Setha, three civilians and a policeman were shot dead on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway near Anantnag.
Setha, according to the police, was carrying a cash reward of ₹2 lakh on his head for his involvement in the Udhampur highway attack on a Border Security Force convoy in August 2015, which left two BSF troopers and a militant dead. One foreign militant had been detained from the spot. He is believed to have ferried the militants to Udhampur from south Kashmir and was missing since the attack.
Eyewitnesses told The Hindu that Kulgam district’s Qoimoh area saw the four armed militants, led by local boy Junaid, mingling with the funeral crowd which included a large number of women.
The four militants fired shots in the air as people pumped their fists and raised pro-freedom slogans. Many women were seen ducking as militants opened fire several times while the coffin was being taken for burial.
The armed militants wearing army fatigue and pheran (a long woolen gown-type dress worn in winters) were paying tribute to Setha.
Police were on a hunt for Setha for more than one year now.
On Saturday he was one of those who targeted a police naka party near Mir Bazar area of Anantnag around 10.00 p.m.
The police party was clearing the road near Malpora. “Militants opened fire indiscriminately at the traffic. The police party returned fire,” said a police official.
Crackdown on TV channels
The authorities have directed district magistrates to take “urgent and necessary action” against transmission of non-permitted TV channels by cable operators in Kashmir Valley.
According to an order issued by the State home department, any such transmission “attracts violation of Cable TV Networks Regulation Rules.”
“It has been reported that cable operators in the Valley have been transmitting certain TV channels which are not permitted by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The transmission of these channels has the potential to encourage or incite violence and create law and order disturbances in the Kashmir Valley,” the order reads.
The 34 channels listed in the order include non-news channels like PTV Sports, ARY Zindagi, Noor TV and Karbala TV.
