Abducted house owner found dead in Kulgam
Police says Jaish behind killing
Kulgam: The Kulgam civilian, who happened to be the owner of the house where 10 people including three militants and seven civilians died in encounter and a subsequent blast in October this year, was on Tuesday found dead in Awhatoo village of Kulgam district on Tuesday morning.
The civilian identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat, son of Ghulam Mohammad Bhat of Laroo Kulgam was abducted by the unknown gunmen 45 days back.
His family members have been living in neighbor’s house after their house was fully damaged in the gunfight in which three local Jaish militants were killed and later 7 civilians died after some unexploded material lying in the rubble of the house went off, a relative said.
He said that a week after the encounter, Sheeraz was on way to drop his mother-in-law and sister-in-law to their home when some masked gunmen disembarked from a Santro car and forced Sheeeaz into it and drove away.
They chased the car for few kilometers but the gunmen fired some shots in the air and managed to take him away, he said.
Sheeraz’s neighbour said that he was a simple man who worked as a driver at a local gas agency for more than a decade and later was also working as a contractor.
His father Ghulam Muhammad Bhat said that “we don’t have any clue who abducted and killed him but whosoever has done it has killed an innocent person. His killer should have left him as he was father of three minors and his house was also blasted to rubble.”
A relative of Sheeraz said his dead body was completely mutilated and nobody recognized him. “I think he was killed and buried within 2 or 3 days after his abduction,” he said.
Around 400 people participated in his funeral prayers and was later he was laid to rest in his native village, he said, adding that he is survived by wife, two daughters whose age is 6 and 4 years and an 18-month-old son as his parents are living with another son.
A police official said that his body bore torture marks and he was buried in the orchard. “We recovered his body after we got a tip off,” said the official.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kulgam, Harmeet Singh said that disclosure was made by few persons who have been arrested during the course of the investigation.
“Two Pakistani Jaish militants along with five local OGWs abducted him, killed him a day after abduction and was later buried in an orchard,” he said adding that three OGWs have been arrested and the vehicle they used for the kidnapping has also been seized.
He said that they are expecting more arrests related to the case.
“Sheeraz has probably been killed over the doubt that he informed Army about the presence of militants at his house,” he said.
Jahangeer Ganaie
