Was the shopkeeper injured in a recent shootout near Srinagar a militant?

On February 5, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force claimed to have shot dead two militants and injured a third at a shootout on the outskirts of Srinagar. But the family of the injured man claims he was not a militant.

“The trio seem to have been planning to carry out a strike in Srinagar city,” said Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh at a press conference soon after the shootout. According to him, the three militants were travelling on a two-wheeler on the morning of February 5 when they were asked to stop by security forces.

Around 11.45 am, they opened fire on the checkpoint, set up by the CRPF and the local police at Lawaypora, on the highway leading out of Srinagar into the northern town of Baramulla, said the police. A Central Reserve Police Force personnel was also killed during the shootout.

The two slain militants were identified as Khateeb Dass of South Kashmir’s Bijbehara area, who is affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen, and Zia ur Rehman Wani of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to the police, Umar Fayaz, who was injured in the shootout, belonged to the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir.

But his family says he was a mere bystander, hit by a bullet outside his shop on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway. “The police are lying, Umar is not a militant,” said Asif Ahmad, Fayaz’s cousin.

‘I have been hit by a bullet’

Fayaz, who is in his mid-20s, owns a stall on the highway near Lawaypora, less than 400 metres from the site of the shootout. When the shooting broke out, his family and two other eye-witnesses say, he was standing outside it.

“I was with him at the time,” said Majid Ahmad, Fayaz’s neighbour. “He had just taken out his mobile phone and so had I. We were both looking downwards, towards our phones. All of a sudden, there were five to 10 gunshots and we ran for safety. He ran towards his home but cried ‘meha aav fire’ [I have been hit by a bullet]. But before he could reach his home, he fell down on the road.”

Fayaz’s unwalled home is right behind his shop. Among the first to reach him after he collapsed was his aunt, Hameeda Bano. “In the morning, he had asked me to help him out with setting up grocery items in the shop,” she said. “After some time, I went inside to check up on my cow. When I came out from the cow-shed, I saw him in front of his shop. Then we heard some rat-a-tat sounds. On hearing the sounds, Umar ducked and tried to make his way towards the house. When he tried to stand up, he couldn’t.”

According to Fayaz’s family, he had opened his shop for the first time on February 5 after a gap of 10 days. “His father had suffered a major heart attack and was in hospital,” said Hameeda Bano. “We have not told him about this incident. He will die of shock.”

Fayaz is the only earning member of the family. While his father is bed-ridden, his mother is ailing, said Humaira Fayaz, his younger sister.

Stopped on way to hospital

Hameeda Bano, her nephew and a neighbour took Fayaz to the hospital. “I cried for help and managed to stop a Tavera taxi on the highway,” Hameeda Bano. “When we neared Shalteng, we were stopped by the CRPF and army. They held us up for about half an hour. All this time, my nephew was bleeding profusely. They even pointed their guns at us and surrounded the vehicle.”

Her nephew, Farzan Altaf Bhat, who was also in the cab, said the soldiers searched their vehicle. “We raised a hue and cry and begged the soldiers to allow us to move,” he said. “I gave them my Aadhar card so that they could trust us. Only after they searched our vehicle did they let us go.”

According to Bhat, their vehicle was followed by security forces till they reached the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences College, but doctors there referred him to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital.

Nazir Choudhary, medical superintendent at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, said Fayaz’s condition remains critical and that he is in the Intensive Care Unit ward. “He has a bullet in the chest and been operated upon,” said Choudhary on February 6. “His condition remains critical but slightly better than yesterday.”

Three to four policemen constantly guard Fayaz at the hospital. “They change shifts but they are not
leaving him alone,” said a relative at the hospital.

‘Where’s the scooty?’

Fayaz’s family said that he had never been arrested for militant activities before. “We will not deny he was a stone-pelter in 2008 and 2010,” said Asif Ahmad, one of Fayaz’s cousins. The two years had seen mass protests in the Kashmir Valley. “He was only a teenager back then. During those agitations, even the old men pelted stones,”.

Humaira Fayaz said her brother had been arrested for two to three days in 2010 but his brush with the police had ended there. On the evening of February 5, the police turned up at his house again. “They were from the local Parimpora police station,” said his sister. “They asked about Fayaz and where he kept his scooty. We told them he’s too poor to afford one.”

‘He was ferrying militants’

According to Pankaj Singh, CRPF spokesperson in Srinagar, Fayaz was ferrying the militants on the scooter. “He was ferrying those militants and there’s a previous record on him as well,” said Singh. “When they were stopped at the naka, they were three men. The second pillion rider got down and shot dead a jawan. After that, they got hit by bullets. Two pistols were recovered from them.”

A top police official in Srinagar also claimed that Fayaz was driving the scooter. “The police have already clarified that he’s a militant,” he said. Asked about Fayaz’s family’s version of events, he said, “These are all the subject matter of investigation and inquiry is being conducted.”

However, the police make conflicting claims about the scooter allegedly driven by the militants. “We have recovered the scooty as well,” said the top police official. Two other senior police officials in Srinagar told Scroll.in that the scooter has not been recovered.

This story has been updated to include fresh statements made by police officers.