Srinagar, May 18, 2019 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, residents of Dalipora area of Pulwama have said that Indian troops used a civilian Rayees Ahmed Dar and his brother as human shields during a cordon and search operation.
Rayees Ahmed Dar was martyred and his brother, Younis Ahmed Dar, was injured in the firing of the troops during a cordon and search operation on Thursday. The 55-year-old Rayees Ahmed Dar led prayers at the local mosque in Dalipora and taught children Quran in the evenings.
“He was the son every parent would be proud of,” said a neighbour. “It is heart-wrenching that he has been cruelly snatched from his parents,” he added.
Locals said that the two brothers were dragged out of their house by Indian army men and pushed into the line of fire.
“The troops came scaling the walls of our house and asked my sons to come out and accompany them towards the operation place. I pleaded and told them we were not permanent residents here and hardly knew anyone, but they did not listen and took them away,” said Jalal-ud-Din, father of Rayees Ahmed Dar.
Originally from Pakhrepora in Badgam district, the Dar family had some ancestral property in Dalipora, where Younis carried out his plywood business. The family kept shuttling between the two places and not many knew them in Dalipora. But most of the people told media men in Dalipora that Rayees was the humblest and most pious soul. Rayees, who had an MBA degree from Islamia College in Srinagar, was helping his brother with his plywood business in Pulwama.
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