The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday ordered a magisterial inquiry into a gunfight in Srinagar in which two civilians were killed.
Srinagar Additional District Magistrate Khurshid Ahmad Shah will investigate the Hyderpora gunfight, according to ANI. Shah has issued a notice urging people to give information on the incident.
The police had first claimed that hardware shop owner Mohammad Altaf Bhat and dentist-turned-businessman Mudasir Gul were shot dead by militants in Hyderpora area on Monday but later said they might have died in crossfire during the anti-militancy operation, NDTV reported.
Bhat was the owner of the house where the gunfight took place, and Gul was his tenant. They were accused of being terror associates.
“A magisterial inquiry has been ordered in Hyderpora encounter,” the office of Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha tweeted. “[The] government will take suitable action as soon as report is submitted in a time-bound manner. J&K administration reiterates commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians and it will ensure there is no injustice.”
The families of the two men killed in the gunfight have been demanding that their bodies be handed over to them. They were detained during a protest on Wednesday and released on Thursday morning.
Bhat’s niece has alleged that he was murdered by the police.
“He was used as a human shield in a staged encounter,” Saima Bhat had told The Kashmir Walla. “He runs a hardware shop and owns the complex where the forces had come for checking. There was no gunfight in that complex. He was taken three times as human shield for checking and when they couldn’t find anything, he was killed there.”
Political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir had demanded a judicial inquiry into the deaths.
“Imperative that a credible judicial enquiry is done to bring out the truth and put an end to this rampant culture of impunity,” former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had tweeted on Tuesday.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said many questions were being raised about the Hyderpora gunfight. “There have been numerous instances of fake encounters in the past and the questions raised about this [gunfight] need to be answered swiftly and in a credible manner,” he had said.
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