STRUCTURES OF VIOLENCE

314 | Structures of Violence
It was 2 RR that had cordoned their quarter and picked
up both Ishtiyaq and Ghulam Nabi.The army were in
large numbers. The witness is unaware as to whether
the army knew about their afliation with the Ikhwanul-Muslimeen
or if they were picked up because of
their afliation.
They were taken to different rooms within the quarter
and beaten and tortured in separate rooms. Ishtiyaq
was beaten in front of his mother; she saw the army
cutting his skin with knives and giving it to the dogs,
who had come along with the army. The mother,
however, was unable to identify who was responsible
for this.
It was Major Ravi Dewan, Major Yousuf Khan
[operational name], and Subedar Ratan Singh who
were in charge at that time; everything happened with
their orders. The family knew them because they were
in-charge of their town. They came from 2 RR at the
Wuderhen Camp.
The army took away a lot of goods [electronics] that the
family dealt with in their business.
They took Ishtiyaq and Ghulam Nabi Lone to Mattan
Chowk and dragged them round there. Then they were
taken to Dak Bungalow, Khanabal for some time and
then to the Khanabal Camp. Their dead bodies were
later found the same day at 2:10 pm in Cheetar village,
Islamabad.
In the village Cheetar, the inhabitants were threatened
and forced to say that it was an encounter. The army
stated that Ishtiyaq and Ghulam Nabi had ambushed
the army while they were on a search operation, due to
which an encounter took place. The witness believes
that a fake encounter was staged there.
th
On the 40 day of his death, personnel from 2 RR came
to the house and picked up the witness. They said that
a few militants had escaped and they were on the way
to the house of the family. They tortured him and put a
knife on his throat. His throat started bleeding and he
started coughing up blood due to the beating. All those
th
who had come for the 40 day ceremony witnessed
this incident. He was bleeding by throat and mouth. It
was some Singh Sahab, whose full name was
probably J.D. Singh. He requested them not to kill him
and they didn't.
The father of the rst victim, Mohammad Iqbal Shah,
gave the above statement to the IPTK on 24 April
2015.
A First Information Report [FIR] no. 289/1994 under
sections 302 [murder], 342 [wrongful connement]
dated 7 September 1994 was led at Anantnag
Police Station. Information on this FIR was sought
through RTI dated 15 October 2013. By
communication dated 16 November 2013 from
Jammu and Kashmir Police a copy of the FIR was
40
provided . By communication dated 16 May 2014
from the Jammu and Kashmir Police the following is
stated: “The investigation of these cases stands
closed as challaned. The CD les along with
relevant documents and evidence both oral and
documentary stand submitted to concerned quarters
for accord of sanction to prosecute or otherwise, the
case is under investigation and as such, it comes
under the purview of section 6[b] of Jammu and
Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009”. Further
information sought through RTI dated 14 November
2014. By communication dated 18 December 2014
from the Jammu and Kashmir Police information was
provided that the case was still with home
department.
Before considering the above, also on record is a
decision by the State Human Rights Commission
[SHRC] dated 27 May 2008 that nds in favour of the
victims, and against the 2 RR, and recommends Rs. 2
lakhs for each family, in addition to investigations on
the FIR. This decision was based on a communication
from the District Magistrate, Islamabad to the
Divisional Commissioner, Islamabad that quotes a
communication from the Senior Superintendent of
Police [SSP], Anantnag, dated 25 April 1995 that
investigations had found the involvement of 3 army
personnel.
The above position is conrmed by the Jammu and
Kashmir police responses to the RTI i.e. that the police
had indicted certain army personnel. But, it appears
that the request for sanction has not moved beyond
the Home Department, Jammu and Kashmir.
The witness statement itself indicts the rst three
alleged perpetrators to some degree in the
involvement in the extra-judicial killings though it is
not evidence of direct involvement but rather a
presumption that the three ofcers, who had
command in the area, would have been involved.
The involvement of alleged perpetrator no.4 in the
torture of the witness himself is based on direct
evidence. It is clear that all the allegations require
further investigation.
Case No. 46
Victim Details
Mohammad Ismail Bhat alias Rameez Raja [Torture
and Extra-judicial Killing]
Age: 19
Militant, with Al- Jihad
Son of: Mohammad Sultan Bhat
Resident of: Liddarmad, Littar, Pulwama district
40 Separately, a RTI was led on 18 December 2012 to Jammu and Kashmir Police regarding custodial killings in Jammu and Kashmir
between 1989 and 2012. By communication dated 27 February 2013 a copy of the FIR was provided.