At time when the family of the victim Muhammad Altaf Bhat, who was killed in alleged gunfight of Hyderpora are waiting for the justice, the police has summoned slain’s elder brother to produce the relevant documents of the Hyderpora property where the alleged gunfight took place.
According to a letter dated 16-12-2021, a copy of which is in the possession of The Kashmir Walla, the Deputy Inspector General of Police CKR [Central Kashmir Range] has summoned Abdul Majeed Bhat [slain’s brother] to provide all the details in writing along with relevant documents within a week.
“Please produce the relevant documents of the owner of the land and building, along with the proper permission/license to run commercial activities in the building from the concerned authorities,” the letter reads.
On 15 November 2021, an alleged gunfight took place in Hyderpora area of Srinagar in which four people were killed.
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 police have also sought the details of all rented floors, rooms along with the details of all renters with rent deeds of the building.
“Please provide the payment mode of the rent of the building along with all the payment details received as rent of the building,” the letter said.
The family has also been asked to provide the details of any caretaker of the building and a valid permission of all the commercial activities run by the owner of the building.
A police official, wishing anonymity, told The Kashmir Walla that the building is still under police custody and would be handed over to the family after a proper investigation.
“The letter regarding the property documents has been issued to the family. Once the investigation will be completed, the building will be handed over to the family,” an official said.
The summon has come at a time when Bhat’s family was eagerly waiting for the outcome of the magisterial probe on the civilian killings in a Hyderpora gunfight.
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 and demanded the return of the bodies.
The government, succumbing to the pressure returned the two bodies and 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 December 11. However, one month has passed, 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 submitted the report, however, the government is sitting on it for some unknown reasons.
“The inquiry officer has submitted the report on time, it is now up to the higher authority to take a call on it,” sources said.
The Kashmir Walla visited the ADM Srinagar Khurshid Ahmad Shah and District Commissioner [DC] Srinagar Aijaz Asad office to know the update about the probe.
However, both the officers refused to comment on the outcome of the investigation.
“I am not authorized to talk about the investigation. And neither can I confirm whether the report has been completed or submitted,” Shah said.
DC Srinagar also refused to comment on the matter.
“The government has taken the big initiative and things will become clear soon. Don’t irritate me with your questions. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I have not let you in my office to ask me questions,” Asad said.
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.
Meanwhile, the families of the victims expressed disappointment over the delay on the outcome of the probe.
Amir’s father Muhammad Lateef Magray said that he feels betrayed by the government.
“Nobody is listening to us. We are forced to come out on to the streets to press for our demand,” Magray said.
Meanwhile, both the families of Mohammad Altaf Bhat, and Mudasir Gul said that they are waiting for a probe report.
