Geelani kin shot hours after Patil winds up visit

Police and witnesses said Funtosh was shot at by an unidentified gunman when he was going to offer the evening prayers at his Buchpora locality on the outskirts of the city. Funtosh, a businessman and an ordinary worker of the Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference, told The Indian Express that an unknown person came close to him and fired at him. ‘‘I don’t know how he looked or what he was wearing,’’ he said at the SKIMS hospital. Doctors maintained that he was not out of danger. ‘‘Though he is stable, only the CT scan report will tell how serious the wound is and whether the bullet is still embedded in the body,’’ said Dr Ishtiyaq Ahmad Mir. The bullet had pierced his neck.

S S Bloriea, station house officer, Soura, said Funtosh told him only one person shot him with a pistol. ‘‘We are investigating,’’ he said.

Geelani, who is in Sopore, said he would come out with an appropriate response tomorrow. ‘‘I am not able to come down to Srinagar today. So I won’t comment on it today,’’ he said. Geelani was in constant touch with his relatives and supporters at the hospital.

Witnesses and neigbours who rushed a bleeding Funtosh to the hospital said they were going to offer namaz when they heard a gunshot. ‘‘We were coming out after having Iftar and going to the mosque when we heard a gunshot. We rushed out and saw Funtosh sahab lying in a pool of blood,’’ said Abdul Qayoom, a shopkeeper.