The two Jaish Muhammad militants killed in a gunfight at Tral, on Tuesday were laid to rest amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans as thousands of people on Wednesday attended their funeral. Four Jaish Muhammad militants, policeman and army man were killed in an encounter between militants and government forces in Tral yesterday. Despite the ban on internet and amid restrictions, several thousand people poured onto streets as the bodies of slain militants, were lifted the scenes were poignant amid the chanting of pro-freedom slogans, hailing the “martyr.” Reports said four rounds of funeral prayers each were held for both slain militants in Handura and Khargund villages. Abid’s relatives, who were waiting for his body to arrive, were holding a pot full of candies in their hands. Women showered the bodies with candies.
Woman sang eulogies “tera bayee, mera bayee, Abid bayee Abid bayee, wala myani shahedo, bochh ma lajee (come my martyr, you might be hungry). Scores of men and women wept bitterly as the body was being carried towards its final resting place. Reports said that some armed militants appeared at the funeral of Ishfaq Ahmad Khan and offered a gun salute to Ishfaq and raised pro-freedom, pro-Islam and pro-Pakistan slogans. The slain militants were identified as Omar Khalid, Ishfaq Ahmad Khan of Handoora, Yasir a foreigner who was the ‘area commander’ of Tral and Abid Maqbool of Khargund and all of them belonged to Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group. The local sources informed Kashmir Life that Ishfaq Ahmad Khan belonged to Handoora Tral, who was first arrested in March 2014 after he tried to snatch a service rifle of a SOG man on duty in Pampore.
That time police issued a statement suggesting Khan was an OGW with Hizbul Mujahideen militant group. He was jailed for one year and later released. But after his release, he joined JeM. Abid Maqbool, another local militant, is the son of a policeman and belongs to Khangund in Tral. He was a student of the second year when he joined JeM in the month of February 2018. Meanwhile, Tral and its peripheries observed complete shutdown Wednesday to mourn the death of the three local militants.