Under fire, J&K police say militant and crossfire killed three in Hyderpora

Under severe pressure after the controversial encounter, the J-K’s Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) held a press conference Tuesday to clarify its position by showing some videos, even as the report of the magisterial inquiry ordered by the J&K Lieutenant Governor and submitted to the government recently are yet to be made public. Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar were also present. Mediapersons were, however, not allowed to film the videos and cover the press conference live.

To a question if it was right to head the SIT especially when the Hyderpora operation was led by him, DIG Sujit Kumar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in Srinagar and also the SIT in-charge, said, “Let me make it clear, it was the operation of Army, CRPF and J-K Police’s SOG (Special Operations Group of Police).”

The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), however, termed the police version of the events as a “concocted cover-up story” reiterating its call for a judicial probe. “It is only a repetition of an old story. There is a strong public perception that the civilians killed were made human shields by the security forces. It will not suffice the legitimate concerns of the people at large and family of slain victims,” said PAGD spokesman and Communist leader MY Tarigami.

Addressing the press conference, Sujit Kumar said, “They (Mohammad Altaf Bhat) volunteered to go inside. He asked Mudasir Gul to come along.” To a question why they were allowed to go inside the premises when the police had inputs about the presence of militants, he said, “As per protocol, the (owner of the building) has to declare (the presence of militants). If he doesn’t declare, he has to show it.” Bhat was the owner of the building in which the alleged militants were present.

DIG Sujit Kumar said the police had video evidence which shows the foreign militant and Amir Magray entering the building in Hyderpora bypass on November 14 evening, a day before the encounter. “On 14th (November), a policeman was injured (in a militant attack) at Jamalta. An accompanying policeman had seen him (the militant) closely; and identified him to be the same foreign militant in Hyderpora. The dongle received from the foreign terrorist also showed Jamalta and Hyderpora locations (indicating his presence in the two areas),” he said.

He showed some video clips and said they have many eyewitness accounts to prove that Amir Magray, the Ramban youth, was a militant and that the foreign militant lived in the chamber of Gul, who had rented space in the building. But he refused to name or identify them because they were “protected witnesses”.

According to Sujit Kumar, the police has got some links in Bandipore. “Amir had sent a picture with a pistol to his friend in Bandipore. The face of the picture was morphed by a sticker. But his friend knew him very well and identified it was Amir in the picture. His friends said he created indiscipline. Amir studied at Darul Raheemiya in Bandipore. We spoke with many students who studied with Amir. One of his friends said Amir didn’t smoke but when he met him recently, he saw him smoking. His teacher said he would always fight and didn’t even take his degree.” Amir frequently travelled to Bandipore and twice visited the tourist destination Gurez “which is an infiltration route” of militants, he said.

Kumar said that when the joint team of forces cordoned off the building, they let Amir go as they didn’t have his picture then. “One of Mudasir’s (Gul) close associates identified him and said he works with Mudasir, so we let him go,” he said. “But we called him back; by then we had information about him, his picture as well. He said his phone is inside the building. He went inside again but returned without his phone after 2-3 minutes.”

Sujit Kumar said Bhat, Gul, and Amir were inside the building when Gul was killed by the foreign militant. “His (Gul’s) body was found inside the attic. We found his goggles on the table inside the attic… The foreign militants took Bhat as a human shield, he opened fire. It lasted for a minute or minute-and-a-half. He was perhaps killed by the foreign militant there.”

To another question if it was morally and legally correct to send the bodies for postmortem in the night, IGP Vijay Kumar intervened and said it was legally right.