Breakthrough in massacre case,claims Army

The Police had arrested a militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Mohammad Yaqoob Wagay from his maternal uncle’s house in a village near Chitti Singhpora. Wagay, according to the survivors, had been accompanying the group of 17 to 18 militants wearing army uniform to the village and the survivors had even identified him. It is said a villager, Bittu, who first saw him had even asked him as to what was he doing with the “armymen”. Bittu was instantaneously fired a full AK burst and killed only to conceal Wagay’s involvement in the massacre, the police claims.

“We had been working on Wagay’s leads for the past few days. In fact, hehad given us clues of a few possible hideouts. Yesterday afternoon, we recieved a specific input regarding the presence of one of the militant groups in village Panchalthan in Pathribal area,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag, Farooq Khan, who supervised the operation along with commander 1 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, Brigadier Bajaj.

The police claims that the militants had split into three groups afterfleeing the massacre site and one group was hiding in this village which islocated deep inside Chattergul valley around 20 km away from ChittiSinghpora.

SSP, Khan said the village was cordoned off at around 2 am and the firstcontact was established with the hiding militants at the first light.“It was a joint operation of the police and the Rashtriya Rifles and wasled by Col. Ajay Saxena,” Khan said. He said the militants opened fire andin the ensuing encounter that lasted for five hours, all the fivemilitants were killed.

Sources in the police said the three bodies of the militants were completely charred while another had taken a direct rocket launcher hit on his head. However, the body of the militant who was hiding in a drain and challanged the troops had not been disfigured. “They were all wearing combat dress,” Khan said.

The police claims that a joint group of 17 local and foreign militantsbelonging to Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba had come to ChittiSinghpora in the evening of March 20 and taken Wagay along to conductthe massacre. Wagay, according to the police, was working as an upperground activist of the Hizbul Mujahideen for the past one year and had beenincharge of a wireless unit in the area. The police claims that Wagay wasarranging food and shelter for the militants in the area that is how theSikh villagers knew about his militant connections. According to thepolice, Wagay has already identified the five local Hizbul Mujahideenmilitants and six foreigners of the Lashkar.

But around 600 villagers of Charipora in Chattergul valley today held aprotest demonstration against what they called a “fake encounter”. Thevillagers were alleging that the four among the five militants killed in theencounter at Panchalthan were picked up after being brought down from ametador bus on Achabal-Chattergul road yesterday. The Police, however,strongly refuted the allegation. The bodies were kept in Police Station,Achabal for identification however nobody was able to identify them as thebodies were completely charred.