Ultras release 11 relatives of J&K cops with threat

With a tit-for-tat warning to the Jammu & Kashmir Police, terrorists on Friday released all 11 relatives — including the younger brother of a DSP — of policemen whom they had abducted from various places in south Kashmir on Thursday.

A top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen issued three-day ultimatum to the police to release all detained relatives of terrorists. He threatened to target families of policemen in the eye-for-an-eye approach if the warning was not heeded.

Terrorists had on Wednesday barged into the house of a policeman in Pinglish village in Tral and abducted his son Asif Rather at gunpoint.

On Thursday, the incidents of abductions took place in Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Kulgam districts. By Thursday night, total 11 relatives of policemen, including brothers of a SHO and a DySP, were reported to have been taken into captivity by ultras.

“Some incidents of abduction have come to the notice of Police in #south Kashmir. We are ascertaining details and circumstances. In due course, it shall be placed in public domain,” police said in a tweet.

In an audio statement on Friday evening, Operational Commander Hizbul Mujahideen Riyaz Naikoo issued an ultimatum to the police to desist from counterinsurgency operations and return to pre-1990 era normal policing.

“We don’t have jails to hold abducted persons. You better know what we can do with them,” he threatened.

A few hours after the audio clip was released by Naikoo, all abducted persons were released. Terrorists also released their videos asking  police top brass not to harm the homes and relatives of ultras.

Naikoo's 70-year-old father, a tailor by profession, was held by police at Awantipora but was released on Friday hours before the audio message went viral. Police sources said Naikoo had been detained for questioning.

Police denied that an alert was sounded in the Valley after the spree of abductions. However, a top police officer told The Pioneer that the abductions have caused a lot of anxiety among the constabulary and their families.

Sources said that police have detained several relatives of ultras including their family members to pressurise them to surrender. On Thursday, families of two active terrorists alleged that security forces set ablaze their residential houses at two different places in south Kashmir's Shopian district. They alleged they could not save any household items in the fire incidents.

While Naikoo's father was released, the father and two brothers of another prominent terrorist commander Lateef Tiger continued to be in police custody. Locals said that several other youths detained or arrested by police on suspicion of being overground workers of ultras or stone-pelters from Pulwama were in police custody.

The police action against terrorists' families and their retaliation has been the most debated topic on the social media.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti welcomed release of family members and wished that better sense prevailed on both sides in this sensitive matter.

Another former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the separatists for their silence on the spree abductions. “11 abductions! This is a very worrying reflection of the situation in the Valley,” Omar Abdullah tweeted. “What's worse is the selective outrage -- people/leaders who are so vocal about alleged security force excesses are silent about these abductions.”

Most of the commentators maintained that the families of policemen and terrorists must not be brought into the conflict. “Terrorists and police /armed forces are in war with each other. Nobody can stop them. But dragging families of ultras or policemen into this war is reprehensible. Whosoever in Government has taken self-defeating decision of arresting their relatives and burning down their houses is wrong,” wrote journalist Ahmad Ali Fayaz.