Kashmir

Yasin Malik petitions SHRC, seeks parallel probe for arrested juveniles

It is for the first time a pro-freedom leader has approached and petitioned the SHRC in the past 27 years

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik on Monday approached the State Human Rights Commission ((SHRC) and sought a parallel probe into the arrest of 15 juveniles accused of lynching of DySP Muhammad Ayub Pandit.

The police officer was killed outside the Jamia Masjid in June, this year.

Malik in his petition wrote that those arrested for being involved in the murder of the police officer met him in Central Jail Srinagar and had a different story to tell. Adding that the matter needed to be thoroughly investigated.

This is the first time a pro-freedom leader has approached and petitioned the SHRC.

A statement issued by the JKLF said that Malik presented two petitions before Nazki, urging him to take serious cognisance of the issues.

In one of the petitions, the JKLF statement said, “Malik raised the issue of dozens of young boys who, according to them, have been falsely implicated by police in the killing of Dy SP Mohammad Ayoub Pandit in June 2017.”

Malik told the SHRC that the 15 incarcerated boys – Aadil Siarj Misgar, Davood Fayaz Zargar, Juwaiz Hassan Khan, Arooj Aafaq Bhat, Iqbal Ahmad Khan, Arsalan Mushtaq Bangri, Seerat ul Hassan, Sheikh Khalid Rasool, Imran Nabi Wani, Owaise Muneer Bhat, Danish Rahim Mir, Sameer Ahmad Khan, Danish Ayoub Badoo, Musawir Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Bhat – met him at Central Jail Srinagar recently when he was lodged there and narrated their “stories of innocence in the said lynching case”.

“With due respect and regards, I (Muhammad Yasin Malik) want to draw your attention towards the human rights violations in Kashmir especially regarding the ill-treatment meted out to prisoners languishing in various jails and police stations,” reads the application filed by Malik before the SHRC chairman Justice (retired) Bilal Nazki.

“I was recently lodged at central jail Srinagar where some 15 young boys who are also lodged there came to see me. All these 15 are accused of being involved in the DySP lynching case. These youth narrated that they have been falsely implicated and they are not involved in any manner,” Malik writes.

“Sir, most of these boys are students and police while investigating their cases have not followed the norms of investigation which they are duty bound to follow. All these boys provided me with the details of their stories and I have already submitted their cases before your goodself,” the application reads.

“Please look into the cases of these young boys whose lives according to them are being ruined by putting them in jail on false charges. I want your goodself to intervene in this matter and order a fresh enquiry into the cases of these young boys so that justice is done to them and they are saved from the wrath of the State. Hope you will initiate an enquiry into these cases and ensure justice to them.”

Citing the case of a youth Danish Ayoub Badoo, son of Muhammad Ayub, 18, of Sazgaripora Hawal Srinagar, Malik said that the boy told him that he was arrested and “tortured severally and forced to accept the charges of murder of police officer.”

“Musavir Bhat of Wanganpora Srinagar is the boy whom I met in Central Jail. He told me that he was offering ‘tarawih’ prayers inside Jamia Masjid and suddenly he heard a noise. Bhat told me that he saw a lot of people had gathered at the spot and he tried to flee after hearing firing shots but found himself in a pool of blood,” Malik writes.

“Bhat was hit by a bullet in his leg and even his private parts were damaged due to the bullet. He was then shifted to Police Control Room and told that he was involved in the killing of police officer.”

According to Malik, another youth Imran Nabi Wani, was summoned by the police station Nowhata and he presented himself before the station house officer. “Imran told me that he that he was arrested and put in the police lockup without being questioned. He was presented before the court and shifted to Central Jail Srinagar on a judicial remand. The innocent boy is made suffer for crime he never committed.”

Malik demanded a thorough investigation into the case and a fresh “unbiased” inquiry into the cases of the arrested juveniles by the SHRC. Malik appealed to SHRC chairperson Bilal Niazi to use his good offices to save the lives and careers of these boys, so that “no injustice is done to them”.

In another application filed before the SHRC chairman, Malik raised his concern over the arrest and detention of Dukhtaran-e-Milat chief Aasiya Andrabi and her aide, Fahmeeda Sofi.

Malik in the second petition wrote, “Aasiya Andrabi is suffering from asthma while as Fahmeeda Sofi is also suffering from various ailments. These two women prisoners were imprisoned under PSA which has been recently quashed by High Court. They were both arrested again under some old case registered in Srinagar and instead of a trial being held in Srinagar; these women prisoners were shifted to Jammu jail on remand where they are still lodged.”

 

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