STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

195 | Structures of Violence
doctors and later taken along in a moribund condition.
When the family went to le an FIR regarding the
same, the concerned police station refused to le it
saying, “we cannot take cudgels with the SOG”. A
friend of the victim is witness to his abduction by the
alleged perpetrators.
The victim's arrest came as a severe setback for the
family and his mother died exactly a year after his
enforced disappearance.
The family was unsuccessful in locating him even
though they searched extensively. On Eid in 1996, the
family visited the PAPA 2 interrogation center but
Ghulam Nabi Bhat couldn't be located.
The family nally approached the court and fought the
case for about one year. The court recommended an
ex-gratia of relief of Rs. 1 lakh but the family refused to
accept the relief, as they wanted the return of Ghulam
Nabi Bhat
The brother of the victim, Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Bhat,
gave the above statement to the IPTK on 8 May 2015.
The allegations regarding the abduction and
disappearance are strong. But, the allegations against
the alleged perpetrators require further corroboration
and a statement from the eye-witness [friend of the
victim] – identifying the alleged perpetrators – would
be important. Nonetheless, this statement does serve
as evidence against the alleged perpetrators subject
as always to further investigations.
Case No. 32
Victim Details
Javaid Ahmed Bhat [Enforced disappearance]
Age: 16
Occupation: Carpet work
Son of: Bashir Ahmed Bhat
Resident of: New Colony, Soura, Srinagar district
Farooq Ahmed Shalbab [Enforced disappearance]
Age: 20
Occupation: Family business
Son of: Ghulam Ahmed Shalbab
Resident of: Salmania Colony, Lane 2, Upper Soura,
Srinagar district
Tariq Ahmed Rather [Enforced disappearance]
Son of: Ghulam Nabi Rather
Resident of: New Colony, Soura, Srinagar district
Alleged Perpetrators
1. RS Raina, 22 Rashtriya Ries[RR], Machil
Army Camp
Case Information
The father of victim 1, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, gave the
below statement to the IPTK.
At around 7 am on 14 June 1995, Javaid went for his
routine work to his neighbor's house where he used to
wash carpets.While leaving, he told the interviewee
that he would go to buy books after work, as he had
passed his matriculation exam only three days ago.
When he left in the evening to buy them, he also took a
pair of scissors along to get its blades sharpened. He
was going to Batmaloo.
However, the interviewee later heard [from one of
Javaid's friends] that Javaid had gone across the
border to Pakistan with some other boys from Nawa
Bazar. Javaid's friend told him that they had planned to
assemble at Jamalatta, from where they would go
across. But then the interviewee visited Beta Kachur's
[chief of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen] house, where Beta
told him that he had sent a few boys across a few days
ago, however, he was unaware if Javaid was with the
group or not. It was Beta Kachur who was sending
them across. They hada guide with them who would
help them cross the border. The guide took them to
Doondi Machil. At Machil, the guide said that he would
get food for them. They were waiting for the food but
the guide didn't return. When the guide didn't come
back, they decided to return but on their way back the
army traced them and red at them. They tried to
escape, but 27 boys were eventually busted. One
among them was killed; 15 were released later and 11
just disappeared.
The interviewee heard that the guide was one Majeed
Gujjar [resident of Kalaroos] and maybe he had
connections with the army and, probably, he only
informed them about the boys [interviewee thinks so
because he kept the boys waiting for food and didn't
return].
RS Raina was the commanding ofcer of 22 RR,
Machil camp and he had arrested the boys.
[Interviewee is unaware as to whether Javaid and the
other boys were going across of their volition or were
they being forced]. One of the boys, amongst those
disappeared, was Altaf Haz; he was released later, at
Malaysia [near Tulsi Bagh, Srinagar]. He later told the
interviewee about the entire incident with the army.
According to Altaf Haz, When 22 RR arrested them
they were kept in custody for one day after which they
were shifted to the SOG camp in Zeangil. Manhas was
the SP there. Only 15 boys were shifted to Zeangil
camp and eleven boys were taken in a truck. Altaf did
not know where they were taken. When Altaf was in
Zeangil camp, he somehow informed his family, as a
result of which Altaf's family visited him in the camp.
There he told his family that there were three more
boys of Soura but they had been taken somewhere in a
truck. Then Altaf's family told this to Javaid's family.
Thereafter, in 2006, the family visited Zeangil camp,
where SP Manhas said that Javaid and Tariq were not
in his custody. SP Manhas then informed them about