Srinagar: An encounter that took place in Kashmir on 18 July was back in the news Monday as a Jammu family claimed the three men killed were their missing loved ones who had been untraceable since 17 July.
The alleged encounter took place in Shopian and resulted in the death of three men. The identity and affiliation of the men were not divulged at the time, and the J&K Police said in a statement that it was being ascertained. They were later buried.
The controversy erupted after police in Jammu’s Rajouri filed a missing persons report Monday for three labourers aged 17-25 after their family said they had fallen off the radar after a visit to Shopian. Soon afterwards, photos of the three missing youth went viral. Then, another image emerged on social media that sought to show three men killed in an encounter.
The family has claimed that the three slain men are the ones they reported missing, identifying them as Ibrar Ahmed, Imtiyaz Ahmed, and Ibrar Ahmed.
The issue has triggered a controversy in Kashmir, with local political parties calling for an investigation into the encounter, which they described as “fake” and “staged”.
The Army spokesperson issued a statement Monday evening saying, they are investigating the matter. “We have noted social media inputs linked to the operation at Shopian on 18 Jul 2020. The three terrorists killed during the operation have not been identified and the bodies were buried based on established protocols. Army is investigating the matter”.
We are deeply grateful to our readers & viewers for their time, trust and subscriptions.
Quality journalism is expensive and needs readers to pay for it. Your support will define our work and ThePrint’s future.
The 18 July ‘encounter’
According to a press statement issued by J&K Police on 18 July, the Shopian encounter followed a “specific input by 62RR (Rashtriya Rifles) about the presence of terrorists in village Amshipora area of District Shopian”.
“An operation was launched by them in the said area. During search, terrorists fired upon Army personnel and the encounter started.”
The press statement appeared to mark a slight departure from the usual media missives issued to announce encounters. Statements about joint operations in the Valley do not generally dwell on the chronology of participation, and just name the agencies involved.
The 18 July statement, however, specified that police and the CRPF joined the encounter “later”. “Later on, police and CRPF also joined. During the encounter three unidentified terrorists were killed. Dead bodies of all the three terrorists were retrieved from the site of encounter,” the statement added. “The identification and affiliation of the killed terrorists is being ascertained.”
The statement also claimed security forces had recovered “incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, from the site of encounter”.
The slain men were subsequently buried at a graveyard in Baramulla reserved for foreign militants. The cemetery was reserved thus to prevent large funeral gatherings for slain militants amid the Covid 19 pandemic.
‘Not in a position to speak’
On 9 August, a family from Peeri tehsil walked into the local police station and reported three men missing. “The family came yesterday (Sunday) and the report was filed Monday. As part of standard operating procedure, the report was sent to station house officers of police stations across J&K. However, we have received no response yet,” a senior Jammu police officer said Monday.
Contacted for comment, the family told ThePrint that the trio had left their residence on 16 July on foot and called home the next day at 7.30 pm from Shopian. “They called us and said they had reached Shopian and even managed to rent a place,” said Naseeb Ahmed, a relative.
“One of our relatives was already working in Shopian for some time now and he told the other two that they, too, can find work in Shopian. But since 18 July, there has been no contact,” he added.
Referring to the photo of the “slain militants” doing the rounds on social media, he said it was their relatives. “The one in the middle is Ibrar, who must be 17-18 years of age. The other one on his side is his brother-in-law, who is also named Ibrar and has a two-year-old son. He must be 25. The one whose face is not visible in the picture is Ibrar’s cousin Imtiyaz Ahmed, who is 20 years old,” Naseeb Ahmed said.
Saleem Ahmed, who claimed to be a cousin of one of the men, identified the trio, but said he would not be in a position to speak. “I am in a bad condition (meri halat bahut kharab hai). We have filed a missing report but we aren’t sure if we will go to Shopian,” he added.
The family said they waited this long to file a complaint because they were under the impression that the trio was either in a no-network zone or in quarantine.
‘On the precipice of disaster’
The development has triggered a political storm in Kashmir, with Iltija Mufti, daughter of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, expressing “shock” in a tweet from her mother’s account (which she has been operating since Mehbooba’s detention last August).
Shocked to hear about reports of 3 missing labourers reportedly killed in a staged encounter at Shopian.Armed forces have a free hand to operate with impunity.Explains why bodies are allowed to decompose at unknown locations.Probes into recent encounters must be ordered https://t.co/7uoNlVIuuN
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 10, 2020
Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also issued a statement, terming the reports of “three missing labourers killed in a staged encounter at Shopian as shocking and extremely excruciating episode”. “Such repressive measures have pushed Jammu and Kashmir on the precipice of a disaster,” it added.
The CPI(M) referred to “unverified reports” that the missing labourers have been “killed in a fake encounter in Shopian on 18 July”, and added, “This is shocking and must be probed by a sitting high court judge in a time-bound manner”.
The headline of this report has been updated to correct an erroneous reference to the missing person’s report as an FIR
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
News media is in a crisis & only you can fix it
You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust.
You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism.
We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And we aren’t even three yet.
At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly and on time even in this difficult period. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. Our stellar coronavirus coverage is a good example. You can check some of it here.
This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. Because the advertising market is broken too.
If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous, and questioning journalism, please click on the link below. Your support will define our journalism, and ThePrint’s future. It will take just a few seconds of your time.