Families’ allege murder; police say duo died due to accident
Srinagar, March 2: Two Kashmiri truck drivers were last night killed mysteriously at Sher Bibi along Srinagar-Jammu National Highway last night in Banihal area of Jammu Division, sparking off protests. Families of the duo alleged that they were murdered while police maintained that they died in an accident.
Massive protests erupted at Banihal after people learned that two Kashmiri truck drivers identified as Abdul Gani Dar son of Ghulam Mohd resident of Kreeri Nopora Dooru and Mudassir Ahmed Rather resident of Watihal Qazigund have been killed mysteriously. The shopkeepers downed their shutters and observed shutdown to protest the killings, alleging that the truckers have been murdered.
As the news about the deaths of the truckers spread in their ancestral villages, families and locals came out of their houses and staged protests. They also alleged that the duo have been murdered and demanded investigation into the matter and stern punishment to the “accused”. Meanwhile, police denied that the duo have been murdered and termed it a case of accident.
“Last night an accident was reported from Sherbibi Nachalana in jurisdiction of police station Banihal between a truck bearing registration number JK03E 8811 and trailer number JK02BH 2877. In this accident two persons identified as Abdul Gani Dar and Mudassir Ahmed Rather have died. A case FIR number 24 has been registered in Police Station Banihal and efforts are on to arrest driver of the trailer. The trailer has been seized. Further investigation is going on,” said the police.
Later, police issued another statement and said that it has arrested the driver of the trailer namely Bali Ram of Chatta Jammu. “The questioning of the driver is going on to ascertain the circumstances of the accident,” police said. The families however rejected police version and maintained that the duo were murdered. “We want independent probe and stern punishment to the culprits,” they added.(GNS)