Hokersar Encounter: Investigate whether any wrong has been committed, Ashok Koul to J&K Government

The demand for probe in the Hokersar encounter gained momentum after the families vouched for the innocence of the youth.

SRINAGAR —

Bhartiya Janata Party’s General Secretary (Organization), Ashok Koul on Sunday said that BJP’s J&K unit urged the J&K Government to investigate the Hokersar gunfight and find out whether any wrong has been committed.

Ashok Koul, who was talking to reporters at party headquarters in Srinagar, said that the party has urged the authorities in J&K Government to order an inquiry to find out whether any wrong has been committed in the Hokersar gunfight.

“If there is any wrong, that will come to fore. If there isn’t, then its fine,” he said, adding, “Police have already stated that it was investigating the case. Let’s see what comes out.”

It is pertinent to mention that Jammu and Kashmir Police along with CRPF and Army claimed to have killed three militants in a gunfight in Hokersar area of Srinagar on December 30 (Monday). However, family members of the slain youth claimed that their kin were not militants but innocent boys killed in a fake encounter.

Also Watch: Lawaypora encounter: Families of slain protest, demand bodies, probe

The killing of these youth (Athar Mushtaq from Bellow Pulwama, Ajaz Maqbool Ganaie of Pulwama and Zubair Ahmed Lone of Shopian) has created a political storm after the mainstream political parties demanded a time bound probe into the circumstances leading to the Hokersar encounter.

The demand for probe gained momentum after the families vouched for the innocence of the youth and accused the state forces of killing them in a fake encounter, a charge strongly contested by police.

Police have been maintaining that all the three were militants, two of them hardcore OGWs, and planning a major strike on the forces along the Srinagar-Baramulla Highway.