Three youths whose bullet ridden bodies were found in an orchard in volatile Pattan area of North Kashmir belonged to a newly formed breakway faction of Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Islam.
The bodies were spotted by the locals in an orchard in Shutz Dangerpora village of Pattan. The locals immediately informed the concerned police station. Police rushed to the spot and took the bodies of three in their possession.
However, earlier it was not known who killed the trio. But later upon investigation, highly placed police sources told The Kashmir Scenario that the trio belongs to Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) outfit headed by erstwhile Hizbul Mujahideen commander and most-wanted militant, Abdul Qayoom Najar.
Najar parted ways from Hizb earlier this year after some major differences occurred between him and his parent outfit.
Police managed to identify bodies of the two youths but the third one is yet to be identified. The two have been identified as 17-year Amir Reshi, son of Ghulam Qadir Reshi of Yamberzalvari Payeen Hardshiva Sopore and 21- year- old Ashiq Wani son of Mohammad Ramzan Wani of Lolipora, Pattan.
Both the bodies were later handed over to their respective family members for last rites after conducting all legal formalities, the sources said.
They said that Amir was missing from July 15, 2015 while as Ashiq was missing since June 2014 and were associated with militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam. The police said that the Amir was associated with Hizb but sources insist that he was affiliated with LeI.
Meanwhile, father of slain Amir told GNS that his son went missing on July 15 and they had lodged a complaint with police station Bomai. He said that later they came to know about his affiliation with the militants. The father of the slain said that the police and army continuously used to come to his house, insisting to help them in motivating him for surrender.
Another slain Ashiq Wani was a Law student of Central University and was in his last semester when he joined the militant ranks. He was also earlier affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen but left the outfit and joined LeI.
The discovery of bodies triggered spontaneous protests and clashes in Pattan and Palhallan areas. The shopkeepers downed their shutters and traffic came to halt. They staged anti-India and pro-freedom protests and accused “unformed men” of killing the trio.