SRINAGAR: Even as security forces gunned down a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist of North Kashmir at Arizal village in Budgam during an encounter on Saturday night, Ashraf Sehrai, the newly appointed chief of
Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, rejected the advice of state director general of police (DGP) SP Vaid, urging him to recall his son
Junaid Khan to shun militancy.
On Saturday, Vaid had urged Sehrai to prevail upon his son Junaid to come back to the mainstream after reports of his joining terror outfit
Hizb-ul-Mujahideen trickled in.
Sehrai on Sunday claimed that the J&K Police detained his elder son Rashid Khan after he rejected the DGP’s suggestion to call back Junaid, who had joined the terror outfit on Friday.
While rejecting the advice of Vaid, the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chief said it was his son’s choice to join militant ranks to fight ‘occupational forces’. However, he claimed that the police on Sunday picked up Rashid, who had filed a missing complaint about Junaid at the Saddar police station on Friday.
Meanwhile, the police have identified the militant who was killed in the Budgam encounter as Shafat Hussain Wani, son of Mohammad Akbar Wani, a resident of Wagoora, Baramulla.
“The slain militant had been affiliated to LeT since April 2017,” a police spokesperson said, adding that arms and ammunition, mobile phones and Rs 30,000 had been recovered from his possession.
According to his family, Shafat was in his 30s and was working as a teacher in a private educational institute before joining militant ranks.
