Trio Killed in Lawaypora Encounter were Involved in Militancy; Will Provide Evidence to Families Soon: IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar

Qaiser Dar

Srinagar 18 January (KNB): The three slain youth in an encounter at Lawaypora area of Srinagar were involved in militancy and police will provide the evidence to their families soon, said Inspector General of Police, Kashmir division, Vijay Kumar.

While speaking to media on the sidelines of the road safety week function held today in Srinagar, the IGP Kashmir said that, “as per the data we have got till now, the slain trio were involved in militancy. We’ll collect all the evidence to show the families and convince them the fact that their sons were involved in militancy.”

However, the families of the three killed in the encounter condemned the killing of their sons, while claiming that they were innocent and not at all involved in militancy.
While on the other side, the Army had claimed their involvement in the militancy by citing that the slain trio was planning to carry out a big attack on the highway.

Furthermore, about returning the dead body of Athar, one of the slain in Lawaypora encounter, IGP responded, “When any militant’s dead body is returned to his family, a large crowd starts gathering and the situation gets out of control, forcing the use of pellet guns over the crowd by security personnels, who eventually face a lot of criticism.”

He further said that there is no question of returning the dead body of Athar to his family.
“Because there is almost 60 per cent of the trio’s involvement in the militancy and we are waiting for further data, which is going to be shown to their parents and convince them,” Vijay Kumar said.

Regarding preparations for Republic Day, which is on 26th January, IGP Kashmir assured that the forces are ready to tackle any incident and proper checking is being done.
“Our men are ready and technical, human resources are all in place.” (KNB)