Samboora, Pulwama District
Families Of Killer’s Associates Cannot Face Victim’s Family
On June 17, Farooq Ahmad Mir, a sub-inspector with JK Police, was killed by hybrid militants in his native village, Samboora in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Farooq was the son of 90-year-old Abdul Gani Mir, a farmer.
Farooq was “shot dead by terrorists using a pistol”. Three days later, security forces said that one of his killers was shot dead in a gunfight in Pulwama’s Tujjan village. He was identified as Majid Nazir Wani. He was the elder son of Nazir Ahmad Wani, a taxi driver.
Over the next few days, police arrested three teenagers who had given information to Majid Nazir Wani to kill Farooq. These teenagers lived in Farooq’s neighbourhood. One was even his distant relative. Two of these teenagers are minors. Police state that the third is an adult, but his family claims that he is a minor. The claim for minor status is made because of lenient provisions for law for juveniles in Indian Penal Code.
Now, the families of these teenagers cannot face the victim’s family. Kashmir is a very close-knit community, but the other families related to the three teenagers also cannot gather the courage to visit the house of Farooq Ahmad Mir. More than two months after the killing, the families of the accused teenagers cannot face their neighbours because of the act of their sons.
