Srinagar: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Thursday issued a notice to Superintendent of Police Awantipora asking for a report on how a Hizb militant was killed while in police custody.
The Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Mushtaq Ahmed Chopan, was killed in a grenade blast that police said was thrown by his associates to help him escape from Tral police station. Chopan was in police custody since January 9, when he was arrested in Sopore.
A petition filed by human rights activist Ahsan Untoo before the SHRC stated that it was improbable that the militant locked up inside a police station could have been escaping wearing a burqa (woman’s veil) as claimed by police. Untoo argued in his petition that the militant was killed in cold blood and the Station House Officer (SHO) and SP Awantipora were responsible for the killing. Untoo prayed before the Commission that the investigation wing of SHRC probe into the killing.