Militant's brother tortured, killed by 51 RR

Greater Kashmir Feb 4, 2009

Militant’s brother killed in ‘custody’

AZIM JAN

Bandipore, Feb 3: Residents of Dewan in this north Kashmir district on Tuesday alleged that troopers of 51 Rashtriya Rifles killed a brother of a militant in custody last week.
Locals pleading anonymity told Greater Kashmir that Waleed Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Rasool crossed over to other side for arms training eight years back and didn’t return. They said during all these years troopers have been repeatedly torturing his family members on one or other pretext.
They said that recently 51-RR replaced the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry personnel, camping at a hilltop on Bandipore-Gurez Road. “The new unit after receiving information about Waleed, picked up his father Ghulam Rasool Bhat and his brother Ali Muhammad Bhat, 20, on January 29 for questioning,” they added.
The troopers released Ghulam Rasool Bhat after subjecting him to third degree torture on January 30, but detained his son.
Locals said the troopers handed over the body of Ali Muhammad to the family on January 31 and threatened them of dire consequences, if they disclosed the killing to anyone.
The family later buried the body in a local graveyard. “The troopers threatened the villagers not to register a case with police,” they added.
When contacted, the Superintendent of Police Bandipore, Sheikh Junaid, feigned ignorance about the matter. “Nobody has filed any complaint in this regard. If any such incident has happened police will look into it,” he added.

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