Tarigami demands probe into killing of civilian in Samba

CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has sought the intervention of Governor N N Vohra for a thorough investigation into the Sarore incident in which a Gujjar was killed in firing during an anti-encroachment drive last week.
"There should be a thorough investigation into the Sarore incident," Tarigami said.
On February 22, Mohmmad Yaqoob died of a gunshot wound during an attack on the anti-encroachment team of Jammu Development Authority (JDA) by a large number of Gujjars in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir. During the incident, 10 people, including 7 policemen, were injured in stone-pelting.
Gujjars have encroached on a huge chunk of the land belonging to JDA in Sarore Bus stand area close to Bari Brahamana Industrial sector in Samba district in the past.

The CPI (M) leader has sent a letter to the Governor in this regard, inviting his attention towards the plight of displaced families of Gujjar community at Sarore.
"Sarore incident cannot be taken in isolation. On the pretext of cleaning forest lands, illegal construction and so on, what prompted the police to use bullets against the unarmed villagers? This needs to be probed thoroughly without any delay," Tarigami said.

Meanwhile, opposition National Conference (NC) also
demanded a judicial probe into the killing, saying the government's version of the incident was "full of contradictions and conjectures" and justice should be upheld at all costs.

"When mainstream political activists and former sarpanchs can be killed in the custody of the police, the Chief Minister should acknowledge the grave costs of her government's callousness and irresponsibility in dealing with the deteriorating situation in Kashmir," former cabinet minister and NC South Zone president Sakina Ittoo and party leader Farooq Ahmed Ganai said in a joint statement here.
They said the killing was "a highly suspicious issue" that "exposed" claims of Mehbooba Mufti about the government's intentions to restore normalcy in the state.
The NC leaders said the probe should take into account eyewitness accounts and testimonies of locals and relatives of Malik and try to ascertain the truth with utmost objectivity.

They said every "perceived miscarriage of justice" and every act of an alleged extra-judicial operation sets us back as a state trying to overcome the trust deficit that has taken root due to a sense of impunity that has often been encouraged by political entities that have exploited the pain and suffering in the Valley for self-seeking interests.