Killings of 2 civilians trigger outrage in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

The killing of two civilians has triggered outrage in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region, with calls for a probe.

A civilian truck driver, identified as Waseem Ahmad Mir, 32, a resident of Sopore town in Baramulla district, was killed in a shooting incident by the Indian Army on Thursday.

The army, however, claimed the deceased jumped a checkpoint before they opened fire.

Regional police stated that the civilian truck driver was killed when the army fired at him “after speeding through the check post.”

Abdul Rashid Mir, a cousin of the slain driver, told Anadolu over the phone that Mir was heading toward the capital, Srinagar, with a load of apple boxes when they heard about the incident.

“We reject these statements of police and Army. If they are truthful, let them share CCTV footage of the incident as they are claiming that there was a chase of 23 kms (14.2 miles),” Mir said.

He added that his slain cousin’s clothes were “full of dirt," raising concerns that "he may have been beaten and tortured before being killed in cold blood.”

A doctor at Baramulla Hospital told the Indian Express that the “nature of the injury suggested” Mir “was shot from close range.”

In a second incident, a civilian was allegedly tortured in police custody and later found dead on Thursday in the Kathua district of the Jammu region.

Makhan Din, 25, was taken into custody by police over alleged links to militants, which he denied.

“Senior officers have ordered a departmental inquiry,” police said regarding Din’s death, urging people not to pay heed to rumors and to cooperate with the authorities.

Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said on Friday: “The unfortunate saga of extrajudicial killings and rights violations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir continues, as the perpetrators are never brought to book. This cycle will never cease until accountability is established and justice is delivered.”

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he had ordered an inquiry and had taken up the matter with the government Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier, Mirwaiz called large scale “arbitrary arrests” throughout Kashmir following the killing of a retired Indian soldier as “unprecedented.”

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Manzoor Ahmad Wagay, his wife and her niece in Behibagh village of southern Kulgam district on Monday.

Wagay, 45, died of gunshot wounds, triggering questioning of some 500 people by police.

“Every such killing and causing injury to innocents is condemnable, but to target and detain in hundreds family members and relatives of those associated with militancy, because of their relationship, is harassment,” he said.