Another hybrid militant killed while aiding search at hideout: J&K Police

A hybrid militant was killed in police custody in south Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said Sunday. This was the second such incident in South Kashmir within a month.

The police said Sajjad Tantray of Kulgam, while accompanying the “police search party for identification” of a hideout in the Checki Dudoo village of Bijbehara, was struck by a bullet fired by militants.

One of the labourers, Chota Prasad, succumbed to injuries at a hospital on November 18, said the police and added they discovered the pistol and vehicle used in the crime.

On October 19, another alleged hybrid militant – what the police call people working underground but not on police records – was killed in police custody in Shopian, a day after his arrest, and the police had given similar reasons for the killing. They said Imran Bashir Ganaie was killed when some militants opened fire on security forces during a raid on a militant hideout in the Nowgam village of Shopian. They had said Ganaie was involved in the killing of two non-local labourers in the Hermain village of Shopian.

Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti then raised questions over Ganaie’s death. “Using dubious nomenclature – hybrid militant and chance encounter – to justify civilian killings has become the norm in Kashmir. Imran Ganaie arrested by the police and then killed in their custody allegedly by another militant defies logic and deserves a thorough investigation,” Mufti had tweeted.