Hyderpora gunfight: SIT says civilians were killed by foreign militant and in crossfire

A Special Investigation Team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police looking into last month’s gunfight in Srinagar’s Hyderpora, in which civilians were killed, tried to absolve security forces of any blame, The Hindu reported on Tuesday.

On the evening of November 15, a gunfight broke out between between militants and security forces in Hyderpora. A statement had said that the security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on a “specific input” about the “presence of terrorists in an illegal call centre rented for business in a private building”.

The next day, Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told reporters that four persons were killed in the gunfight, including two militants. The police identified the militants as Haider, a Pakistani national, and Amir Ahmad, from the Banihal area of Jammu’s Ramban district. His full name was later revealed to be Amir Ahmad Magray.

The two other men killed were identified as Altaf Ahmad Bhat, who owned the building in which the alleged gunfight took place, and Mudasir Gul, a doctor-turned-businessman who rented the first floor of the building for his offices.

The families of Bhat, Gul and Magray have rejected all police claims that they were involved in militancy. Their death, they alleged, was “cold-blooded murder”. They also accused the security…

Read more