The Jammu and Kashmir police have put up posters of two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants whom they hold responsible for the recent killings of civilians in Sopore.
“We have put up posters of two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants — Abdul Qayoom Najar and Imtiyaz Ahmad Kundoo — and put a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for information leading to their arrest,” a senior police officer told The Hindu . “They are the ones responsible for the killings.”
Both Qayoom and Imtiyaz are residents of Sopore. Qayoom is one of the top commanders of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir and has been active since the 1990s. Imtiyaz has been a militant for around five years with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
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The posters, however, have triggered more protests in Sopore, which remained shut for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. Soon after the police put up the posters early on Tuesday, many were pulled down by residents.
“These are Indian agencies killing us as they have done in the past. The police are trying to fool us by blaming the killings on Qayoom and Imtiyaz,” Mohammad Saleem, a protester, told The Hindu .
The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has repeatedly distanced itself from the killings and called them “a handiwork of Indian agencies.”
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“We are sure that such acts are executed by the Union government and its Mufti-led government in J&K to weaken the ongoing struggle in Kashmir,” said Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin.
The two factions of the Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front have called for a complete shutdown in Kashmir on Wednesday.