New Delhi, January 10, 2021 (PPI-OT):Kolkata-based diplomat and Chairman of Centre for Peace and Progress, O P Shah in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed concern over the killing of three youth in Srinagar, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, on December 30, last year, and called for an independent inquiry into the fake encounter.
The youth, Ajaz Maqbool Ganie, Athar Mushtaq Wani and Zubair Ahmad Lone were shot at and killed by Indian troops at Lawaypora in Srinagar. “I would urge the Government of India and the administration of Jammu and Kashmir to conduct an independent, impartial and thorough investigation of this (fake) encounter, which the families of the dead young men allege was a fake encounter,” Shah mentioned in the letter and also raised major points.
“This allegation by the families of the deceased is further bolstered by the following information from recent media reports: “That none of the deceased had any police record or other record of being politically active. And none of the deceased was listed in the police’s database of active militants.
While forces’ personnel failed to make any effort to involve the families of the deceased to appeal to the alleged militants to surrender. He also said that after every encounter, neighbours account matters, but in this case, the residents of the relevant neighbourhood contest the military’s assertion that the deceased were given several opportunities to surrender.
And Shah also stressed that the government should also sympathetically consider the demand of the family members to be handed over the bodies of deceased persons. “If we are to win back the hearts and minds of Kashmiris, fake encounters have to be completely eliminated,” he added.
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