Despite the passing of allotted 15 days to probe the civilian killings in Hyderpora area of Srinagar, the government has failed to finalise the report as families of the victims await justice.
On 19 November, the government had ordered a magisterial probe into the alleged gunfight of Hyderpora in which four people were killed.
The government appointed Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Srinagar Khurshid Ahmad Shah as an Inquiry Officer (IO) to probe the incident and directed him to submit the report within 15 days. The report was supposed to be submitted on Saturday.
However, three days past the deadline, the contents of the report are yet to be made public.
Sources in the Srinagar District Magistrate Office told The Kashmir Walla that the inquiry officer has completed the report, however, it is yet to be submitted to the higher-ups.
A resident of Barzulla, Muhammad Altaf Bhat, a businessman and resident of Budgam, Mudasir Gul, who also ran an office in the same building, where the alleged gunfight took place on November 15, were shot dead along with Amir Ahmad Magray, a resident of Ramban and employee of Gul. The police claimed that the trio were killed along with a foreign militant Haidar.
The magisterial probe was ordered after Bhat’s and Mudasir’s family staged a protest rejecting the police claims that the slain were involved in militancy.
During the investigation, the ADM Srinagar had asked the general public to record their statement in 10 days time. However, sources had told The Kashmir Walla that no eyewitnesses have turned up to record their statement.
Sources further told The Kashmir Walla that apart from the three families of Muhammad Altaf Bhat, Amir Lateef Magray and Mudasir Gul that were called to record their statement, no eyewitness appeared before the inquiry officer to recount 15 November incident.
Meanwhile, Bhat’s family said that they are pinning hope on the magisterial probe to get justice for their beloved one.
“We are hopeful that the probe will reveal the truth. LG has assured us of a fair probe and stern action against the culprits,” said Abdul Majid Bhat, elder brother of slain Mohammad Altaf Bhat.
On 4 December, Lieutenant Governor (LG) during an interview with a news channel said that the report on the Hyderpora gunfight would come in three days.
“The inquiry in the Hyderpora incident has been ordered and the report will come in the next three days. If any innocent is killed, strict action will be taken against the culprits,” Sinha had said.
Amir’s father Muhammad Lateef Magray said that after their appearance before the ADM on 18 November to record their statement, “they have not heard anything from the authorities”.
“There is no communication from the administration. Neither had they told us whether they are handing over Amir’s body nor do we know about the status of the probe,” Magray said.
Meanwhile, Mudasir Gul’s family said they are also waiting for the outcome of the magisterial probe.
“We were expecting the report to come out today. But, don’t know it has been delayed,” the family said.
The Kashmir Walla reached out to the ADM Srinagar Khurshid Ahmad Shah and District Commissioner (DC) Srinagar Aijaz Asad but both didn’t respond to the repeated calls and text messages to comment on the matter. The story will be updated when they respond.
