A shutdown called by separatists on the anniversary of pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) co-founder Muhammad Maqbool Butt, who was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail on this day in 1984 on a murder conviction, brought life to a standstill in the Valley.
Butt’s supporters joined pro-independence activists also in PoK, Pakistan, and in different parts of Europe, the Gulf and the US to hold rallies to commemorate his “martyrdom”.
In Srinagar, the police and CRPF enforced strict security restrictions in some parts including Maisuma, Budshah Chowk and Lal Chowk to thwart protests planned by separatists.
Meanwhile, the shooting in which 22-year-old Ashique Hussein Rather was killed took place at Laisar, a hamlet in Rafiabad division of Baramulla, late Friday evening. Let. Gen. Syed Atta Hasnain, the GOC 15 (Chinar) Corps, who along with minister of state (home) Nazir Aslam Wani and DGP Kuldeep Khuda, visited the area later on Saturday, said initial investigations revealed that on the basis of intelligence which indicated presence of militants in the village a column of 32 Rashtriya Rifles established a cordon near a cluster of private houses.
He added that the presence of Army troops created some panic in a house which led to the accidental discharge of a weapon with one of the soldiers.
The visiting officials sympathised with the family, apologised and while paying their condolences assured them of compensation, including a job for a male member of the family. Let. Gen. Hasnain said the Army has, however, instituted a military court of inquiry while Mr Wani promised a parallel magisterial probe to confirm the chain of events and measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Later, the corps commander met governor N.N. Vohra to brief him on the incident, the overall security situation in his area and matters of internal and external security management. The slain youth’s father, Muhammad Akbar, told visiting reporters that the troops did not allow him and his neighbours to remove his son to hospital till he bled to death in the compound of their house. He also claimed his son had received more than one bullet wound, contrary to the Army’s claim that only a single bullet went off accidentally.