Tarigami demands judicial probe into killing of militant

Senior CPI(M) leader and legislator Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami today called for a judicial probe into the killing of a militant in south Kashmir's Anantnag district yesterday, asking the government to bring the facts about the incident to the fore without delay.

Condemning the killing of Sajad Ahmad Malik, Tarigami, who represents south Kashmir's Kulgam constituency in the state Assembly, called for a judicial probe into the incident to "fix the responsibility and punish the culprits."

"Such incidents are not only inhuman but shameful. Impunity for such killings must be put to an end or else the consequences can be disastrous," he said.
 

The CPI(M) leader urged the government to put across a strong message by bringing facts about the incident to the fore without delay.

"Government should come out with all the facts available related to the incident, so that not only the affected family but people in general are relieved from dilemma about the circumstances which lead to the death of the ex-sarpanch," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president G A Mir has also demanded a judicial probe into the killing, saying the deceased was an ex-sarpanch belonging to his party.

"Malik was a young, honest but poor man. He was a sarpanch who was elected constitutionally and served the people for five years. He was accused by the state of participating in a protest rally (during the unrest), which may be true and for which there is the law of the land to deal with it.

"According to the law of the land, he was taken into custody but was bailed out. Still, since the last one month, police was delaying his release saying the ruling party (PDP) wanted him in custody. Finally police released him and sent a cop to drop him home," Mir said yesterday.

The Congress leader said Malik was dropped by the policeman at Agnoo village where "army had already established a cordon."

"After five minutes, there were some gunshots and people said they saw Malik lying dead there," Mir said and termed the killing as "politically motivated custodial murder."

However, police today claimed that the militant was a "history sheeter" and had decamped with a rifle from a police station after which he fired towards an army patrol where he was "killed in the exchange of firing.