YET ANOTHER COLD BLOODED MURDER OF AN INNOCENT, UNARMED CIVILIAN BY CRPF

Rajpora firing
Courtesy: Daily Rising Kashmir dt March 19th, 2009 by Wasim Khalid

Union Home Minister in town, CRPF kills civilian

Srinagar, March 18: While the Home Minister, P Chidambaram was assuring the State chief minister in winter capital that the army personnel involved in killing of two youth in Bomai will be punished, a 38-year old carpenter was killed in unprovoked firing by CRPF personnel at Khaigam, Rajpora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The killing evoked massive protest demonstrations in the area with villagers refusing to bury the body till the guilty CRPF men were punished.“The incident happened in the evening. A group of CRPF personnel of 181 bn were looking for Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik, a carpenter, and barged into his house at Khaigam, Rajpora. Malik was sitting in a room along with his parents. His four children and wife were also present in the house,” a local Mohammad Ayoub told Rising Kashmir over phone.He said that the CRPF personnel showered abuses on Malik and grabbed him by collar to attic of his house, where they fired from point blank range towards him, killing him on the spot. Ayoub alleged that after killing Malik, the CRPF personnel went on a beating spree in the village. “Whosoever came in their way, he was flogged”.After the killing, the residents of Khaigam carrying the body of Malik took to roads and staged anti-CRPF demonstrations. Raising pro-freedom, pro-Islamic and anti-India slogans, the protestors were demanding a thorough probe into the incident and severe punishment to the CRPF personnel involved in killing the carpenter. They refused to bury the body.Tension was prevailing in the village when reports last poured in.While confirming the killing, DIG South Kashmir, Rajesh Kumar told Rising Kashmir, “People have accused CRPF of killing the carpenter. The SHO of the concerned police station reached the spot and was informed by the locals that Malik was killed in CRPF firing”.“We have not yet completed our investigations. We are verifying details about the incident,” he said.Kumar said after ascertaining the circumstances, they would file the complaint and accordingly launch investigations.CRPF spokesman, Prabhakar Tripathi said 181 Bn personnel had received information regarding the presence of militants in Khaigam village.“They asked village head to accompany their search party. As they were walking towards village, they came under fire from a haystack on the roadside. The troopers retaliated and the whole area was sealed,” he said.Tripathi said, “During searches, we recovered Malik’s body and damaged mobile from the haystack. The cordon is till on and we are ascertaining the situation”.