Kashmir : Militants abduct and shot dead teenager

A statement issued by the Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday identified the dead youth as Nadeem Manzoor, a resident of Safanagri village in Shopian. The statement said that a case has been registered and an investigation has started.

Terming the killing “a brutal act of terror”, the police said the civilian was kidnapped on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday by militants and was later killed.

This follows after a video showing a boy wearing Kashmiri traditional Pheran being questioned, in Kashmiri language.

The boy was accused of being an informer, allegedly responsible for killing of two militants in a recent encounter in Shopian.

General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based Army's 15 corps Lieutenant General AK Bhatt  slammed the terrorists saying they neither have a religion nor any values.

The youth’s family members said that a group of gunmen entered their house on Thursday night when Nadeem was not at home. “When he came back, we told him that some people were looking for him. He again went out and was kidnapped. Later, we came to know that he has been killed and his body has been found,” Nadeem’s cousin told The Indian Express.

The family members said Nadeem was not involved in any suspicious activity. “We don’t know who killed him. But, we are sure he was innocent,” the cousin said. “If he was killed by militants, they should tell us why they killed him.”

Nadeem, who had recently appeared for his Class XI exam, is survived by his parents, two brothers and a sister.

The Safanagri village in Shopian is located very close to the Niklora area in Pulwama, where Nadeem’s body was found.

Earlier this month, an encounter between militants and security forces took place in Safanagri and two militants affiliated to Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in the gunfight.

Police officers said they are verifying the video. “I have just seen it (the video). We are verifying it. I cannot comment on it unless we verify the content,” Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order and Security, Munir Ahmad Khan told The Indian Express.

In an audio message, also circulated on Friday evening, Hizbul Mujahideen’s operations’ chief Riyaz Naikoo said that their “do or die squad” found the informer of the encounter (in Safanagri).