Hundreds of villagers staged protests in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district against the killing of a Government employee during an anti-militancy operation. The district administration has ordered magisterial probe into the killing.
local said that 40-year-old Asadullah Kumar had two gunshot wounds and torture marks on his body. Sources said that Kumar was working as security guard with the State fisheries department and was posted at Chansar village to guard a local breeding farm. They said that security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the area following a tip-off on the presence of militants.
They said Kumar was on duty in the area and security forces took his movement as suspicious. He was fired upon directly and died instantly.
However, the security sources said that the government guard was killed in cross firing between security forces and the militants in the area. They said that cordon and search operation in the area was underway to track down the hiding militants, who are believed to have fled from the scene.
Hundreds of people took to streets against the killing and tried to block the vehicular movement on Srinagar Jammu National Highway at Vessu village. The family members of the slain employee alleged that the stripped body was thrown near their house at Mandol village, which bore two bullet wounds on thigh and chest besides visible torture marks on the entire body.
Deputy Commissioner Kulgam Showkat Ajaz Bhat announced magisterial inquiry into the incident. The inquiry would be conducted by Assistant Commissioner Revenue Shahnawaz Ahmed. Sources said that Bhat assured the protesters that the victim’s family will be provided relief under a special package for the victims of turmoil in the state.
The protests occurred on a day when normal life resumed in Kashmir on the call of separatists who issue weekly protest calendars. Over the past three weeks the separatists have asked people to resume normal work on the weekend. The protests began in Kashmir on July 8 when security forces shot dead prominent Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani and his two associates during an operatrion in south Kashmir’s Kokernag area. There has been continuous disturbance in the normal life across Kashmir as separatists have been issuing weekly protest calendars against civilian killings, injuries and arrests of youths and political activists. As many as 97 people have been killed and several thousand others injured in the ongoing unrest in the Valley.