APHC spearheads shutdown in Kashmir over encounter killings

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) spearheaded a shutdown in Kashmir on Friday to protest against a recent encounter in the Lolab area in which seven people were killed.

Streets wore a deserted look and shops were locked. Security personnel were seen manning the streets who kept a tight vigil to foil any attempt of protests in the valley.

"An encounter took place in Lolab on 25th February. According to the police, they were foreign militants whereas locals of that area say they were not militants. There is a shutdown in Srinagar on the same issue. The streets and roads are empty," said a resident, Fayaz Ahmed.

On Monday, the Indian Army gunned down seven militants in a fierce gun battle in the Lolab area of Kupwara District.

Earlier, the chairman of hardline separatist group Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, termed the Lolab gunfight as mysterious, after the authorities were reluctant to hand over the bodies of the militants, indicating that they were trying to cover up the truth. He added that the slain people were not militants

Geelani said independent international organisations must probe the killings so that the truth comes out at the earliest.

The militants opened fire on a search party which launched an operation after receiving information about the presence of suspected militants in the forest area near Dardpora (Lolab) village.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Home Minister Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo confirmed the reports, and said the operation continued till the afternoon, and therefore, it got late in conducting the post mortem and other formalities, which led to some anti-social elements manipulating the situation.