Hizbul Mujahideen, LeT suspect in Army officer killing

Srinagar: Militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen may have been involved in Lieutenant Umar Fayyaz Parray’s gruesome murder in southern Kulgam district of the restive Valley, J&K police officials said on Thursday. The Hizb and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba were also involved in recent weapon-snatching incidents and the killing of five policemen and two bankguards in south Kashmir, they added.

However, a report quoting defence sources in New Delhi said that six militants from Lashkar and Hizb involved in the killing have been identified and a massive manhunt has been launched to arrest them.

The murder of the young Kashmiri Muslim Army officer of 2 Rajputana Rifles and the ongoing student unrest in the Valley dominated the discussion over the overall Kashmir situation between visiting Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and governor N.N. Vohra here on Thursday.

“The governor and the home secretary held extensive discussions about issues relating to effective maintenance of law and order,” a Raj Bhavan spokesman said.

Mr Vohra and Mr Mehrishi also discussed matters relating to the security situation along the international border and the LoC, increasing infiltration attempts and the growing incidents of terrorism in the valley, the spokesman said.

In the evening, the home secretary was briefed by security and police officials about the situation in the Valley.

The officer was on his first leave when abducted from the wedding of his cousin in Batpora village of Kulgam on Tuesday night. His bullet-riddled corpse was found in Harmain area of neighbouring Shopian district on Wednesday morning. The gory incident evoked a nationwide outrage and renewal of the government’s pledge that “terrorism will be eradicated from the Valley at any cost”.

IG (Kashmir range) Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said that preliminary investigations into the Army officer’s murder point out to the involvement of a module of the Hizb active in Shopian. The police has found two empty cartridges of an INSAS rifle at the place where Parray was shot dead which indicates that the weapon snatched from the policemen recently was used in committing the crime.

The police has, however, denied earlier reports which had said that the corpse of the slain Army officer bore torture marks.

“We had had two incidents of weapon-snatching in south Kashmir recently. We have leads that the Kulgam snatching was carried out by Lashkar militants while Hizb militants were involved in weapon-snatching at Shopian court complex. So it could be one of those weapons (used in the murder of the Army officer),” Mr Gillani said. He added that the autopsy report was awaited but confirmed that there were no torture marks on Parray’s body.

Hostilities again broke out between the facing forces along the LoC on Wednesday night. A woman was killed and her husband injured in Pakistan’s firing.

In Islamabad, India’s deputy high commissioner was summoned over alleged ceasefire violations by India resulting into one death.

Meanwhile, BSF IG Sonali Mishra and her counterpart from the CRPF Ravideep Singh on Thursday held separate meetings with governor Vohra to discuss the Kashmir situation in the backdrop of recent incidents of violence, student protests and increasing activities of militants mainly in southern parts of Kashmir Valley.

Even after the government’s ordering closure of some educational institutions or suspending teaching work at these, student protests have continued in parts of the Valley.