Death Of A School Principal In Pulwama Opens Valley's Old Wounds

Outside the Pandith home in Awanti­pora hangs a banner with a picture of Rizwan smiling and the words 바카라�Justice for Rizwan바카라�. 바카라�We know hundreds have been killed and disappeared in Kashmir,바카라� says a relative. 바카라�Some of their kin have fought legal battles, but have got no justice. And yet they keep trying, and so will we.바카라�

Officials privy to Riz­wan바카라�s postmortem report say he died  바카라�at least 12 hours바카라� before the autopsy conducted on March 19. They suspect a heavy stick was 바카라�rolled on his thighs, causing blood ves­sels to burst and injuring soft tissues바카라�.

According to Rizwan바카라�s younger brother Mub­ashir, their house was raided by SOG men accompanied by an officer and personnel from the Awantipora police station, located just a few metres away. 바카라�They locked my parents, brothers and sisters in one room and took me from room to room during the search,바카라� says Mubashir, a postgraduate in biochemistry who teaches in a local private school. 바카라�While taking Rizwan away, they told us that if we raised our voice, they will shoot us all.바카라�

Rizwan바카라�s family members went to the police station in the morning and asked about him. 바카라�We met the station house officer, who told us Rizwan has been taken to Cargo and that we have to wait until the next day for information on him. So we returned home,바카라� says Mubashir. Then, in the morning of March 19, Rizwan바카라�s body was brought home bearing marks of severe torture, claims the ber­eaved brother. 바카라�When they picked up my brother, he was in proper attire. He also had a jacket on. But his naked body came home wrapped in a blanket. There was not even a thread of his clothes left on his body. And the blanket was drenched in blood,바카라� adds Mubashir.

That morning, it was initially reported that Rizwan died in the custody of India바카라�s counter-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is inv­estigating the February 14 suicide bombing in which 40 CRPF men were killed at Lethpora, under the Awantipora pol­ice station바카라�s jurisdiction in Pulwama. The NIA promptly denied any involvement in Rizwan바카라�s detention and said its men had not picked him up. 바카라�He was neither called in for questioning nor was he examined at any other location in connection with cases being investigated by the NIA,바카라� a senior NIA officer tells Outlook.

After the NIA바카라�s denial, the police dec­lared Rizwan 바카라�a terror suspect with a background in militancy바카라�. After initially agreeing to a magisterial probe under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Srinagar, the police later claimed that Rizwan died when he jumped from their vehicle on the way to Pulwama for searches, and insisted the probe be held in Pulwama. 바카라�I think it was an afterthought,바카라� says an official posted in Srinagar. Pulwama바카라�s assistant commissioner of revenue (ACR) is now the probe officer in the case and visited the Pandith home on Saturday. 바카라�He said he came to express condolence and ass­ured us of a fair probe,바카라� says Mubashir.

Rights activist Khurram Parvez of the Srinagar-based Jammu Kashmir Coa­lition of Civil Society says a number of custodial killings have taken place in the past few years and a large number of inquiries were also ord­ered, but nothing has happened in all those cases. 바카라�Since 2008, 108 inquiries have been ordered to probe various human rights violations in Kashmir. But, INS­tead of allowing normal investigations after filing a proper FIR, none  of these inq­uiries has led to prosecution of the acc­used armed forces personnel. Every effort to seek justice has been scuttled in this way. I do not expect any justice in this case as well, but the legal battle must be fought,바카라� adds Parvez.

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• Rizwan바카라�s naked body was brought home wrapped in a ­blood-soaked blanket, says his brother.

• SInce 2008, 108 ­inquiries have been ­ordered, but not even one has led to prosecution of the ­accused personnel.

By Naseer Ganai in Awantipora