The controversy over the relase of hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam seems to be taking a new turn as s former police officer, who had arrested Alam in October 2010, claimed that the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had awarded him but had asked as to why he was caught alive and not "bumped off". Abdullah did not react to the allegation but a spokesman of National Conference (NC) described it as "concocted, untrue and baseless."
A human rights group said that based on the police officer's revelations, they would file a case against Abdullah for rewarding police officers as an encouragement to perform extra-judicial executions. "These allegations confirm the truth known to people of Jammu & Kashmir that extra-judicial executions, torture, disappearances and other crimes have been routinely used to control the population", the Coalition of Civil Society, a grouping of rights organisations said in a statement.
Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, a senior police officer, who was brought in by Omar Abdullah in 2010 summer to quell an anti-India uprising, claimed in an interview that he had arrested Masarat Alam from a relative's home after his mother's phone was meticulously tracked. "It took us months of hard work. The Chief Minister had asked me on the phone 'Why didn't you bump off this manIJ Why did you get him aliveIJ" Bukhari said in an interview to a web portal Authintmail.
He said he received Rs 10 lakh reward from DGP for arresting Alam. "Omar Abdullah gave me extra of Rs 15 lakh from his own pocket. He also granted out-of-turn promotion to seven personnel of my team", Bukhari was quoted. Bukhari maintained that Alam was the mastermind of 2010 bloodshed and that he was a staunch separatist who could not be moulded.
The NC spokesperson Junaid Mattoo rubbished Bukhari's claims as "concocted, untrue and baseless." "We are contemplating future course of action against him (Bukhari). We will consult lawyers on this," he said. Matoo said the release was purely an administrative decision. "let the Government clarify first whether his release was ordered during Governor's rule or soon after the Chief Minister took over," he said.
The CCS spokesman Khurran Parvez said that Bukhari's revelations indicate that extra-judicial killings have been going on in Kashmir under the poltical patronage. "As an immediate step, ex-SSP Ashiq Bukhari must stand by his statements and we will file a case against then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah," Parvez said. The NC spokesman said that cases have been registered in police stations regarding the killing of 120 persons in 2010. "FIRs would clear whether Omar needs to be tried in court of law", Matto said.
When asked what was the NC's stand on Alam's release, Matoo said the release was purely an administrative decision. "let the Government clarify first whether his release was ordered during Governor's rule or soon after the Chief Minister took over," he said. "The order of his release dated February 4, 2015 indicates that the decision was taken during Governor's rule. The issue was given a political hype", he said. Omar Abdullah has earlier justified Masarat's continued incarceration during his tenure saying that a couple of secure elections were possible only because of his detention.