South Kashmir family claims missing son among 5 killed in Keran operation
A family from south Kashmir’ Shopian district has claimed that one of the five militants killed in a fierce gunfight near the Line of Control in Kupwara last week was their son who had been missing since 2018.
The family of Sajad Ahmad Hurra from Daramdora village at Keegam in Shopian said they recognised Sajad through pictures of the slain militants that went viral on social media Tuesday.
Neither the Jammu and Kashmir Police nor the Army have revealed the identity of the militants killed in the encounter. The five militants and five personnel of the Para (Special Forces) were killed in “hand-to-hand” combat that began on April 1. All the militants were buried in a forward area in Kupwara on Wednesday
“In April 2018, my son left Kashmir saying he was travelling to Saudi Arabia as he had got a visa. After he left, we were in touch with him. In phone calls later, he said he was in Delhi. Since then, we have no information about him. We saw a picture from the Keran operation yesterday and recognised him. That picture is of my son… our only request is that the body should be given to us,” Sajad’s father Mushtaq Ahmad Hurra told The Indian Express on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Police, Shopian, Amritpal Singh also confirmed that “Sajad was missing from Delhi”.
Dar’s family members on Wednesday approached the Deputy Commissioner Shopian’s office, where they got the pass to travel to Kupwara. Mushtaq said they would travel to Kupwara again on Thursday to give their samples for DNA testing.
According to Dar’s family, soon after the rumours of Sajad being one of the militants involved in the Keran gunfight started making rounds, their house was raided by police in the night. During the raid, police also picked up Sajad’s brother, the family alleged, adding he is still in detention.
While SHO, Keegam Police Post, Imtiyaz Ahmad refused to provide any details, SP Shopian, Amritpal Singh said they have not detained Sajad’s brother.
While Dar’s family believes their son was among the slain militants, two more families have approached the police, apprehending their missing relatives to be among the five militants killed in Keran. The families are those of one Adil Bashir Wani from Sajad’s Daramdora village, and of another Sartaj Ahmad from Yaripora area of Kulgam district.
The family members of Adil said he went missing in April 2018, when he said he was going to Delhi for medical tests for a job in Saudi Arabia. The family is also travelling to Kupwara on Thursday to give their DNA Samples.
On Wednesday, Sartaj’s family members, too, travelled to Kupwara and met the district officials. “Sartaj left home in December 2017, saying he was travelling out of state for a six-month job training. In between, his phone was switched off and since then we don’t know about his location,” said one of his family members. “We are in Kupwara to give our DNA samples so that it can be confirmed if Sartaj was among the militants killed in the Keran encounter.”
Two days ago, the family members said, a picture of Sartaj and Sajad holding weapons went viral on social media. “We don’t know if Sartaj is among the group of militants. Since he (Sartaj) is with Sajad in the picture, we also approached police to know if he is among the dead,” said the family member.
A senior police official in Kulgam told The Indian Express that the police records show Sartaj as “missing”. “We even issued a lookout circular against the boy after he travelled to Pakistan in 2018 through Wagah Border on passport. Since then he hasn’t returned…he is part of many cases from the Valley who travelled to Pakistan on visa and got arms training there,” he said. “So far, we don’t have any official confirmation that the boy was among the militants who were killed in Keran.”
Asked about the claims of the family, Kupwara SP Shriram Ambarker told The Indian Express that two families have so far approached them. “We will go as per the SOP and DNA samples of the family members will be taken…if DNA matches, bodies will be given (to the families),” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Anshul Garg didn’t respond to the call.
A health team has already conducted the post-mortem examination and DNA sampling of the slain militants.
Indian express
