Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat expresses concern over 'custodial killings' of youths in Kashmir

Srinagar: A day after a "hybrid militant" was killed in an encounter in Anantnag district, the Hurriyat Conference faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Monday expressed concern over alleged custodial killings of young boys in Kashmir.

Labelling young boys as "hybrid militants" and arresting them under draconian laws has become routine in Kashmir, the Hurriyat said in a statement.

Sajad Ahmad Tantray alias Furqan, a "hybrid terrorist" of Lashkar-e-Taiba and a resident of Shirpora in Kulgam, was accompanying a police party for identifying a hideout when he was killed in an encounter between security forces and ultras in south Kashmir's Anantnag on Sunday, according to police.

He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, a police spokesperson had said.

"Hybrid militants" are not listed as ultras but are radicalised enough to carry out a terror strike and then slip back into routine life.

"Hurriyat Conference expresses grave concern and anguish over the cold-blooded custodial killings of young boys arrested and then killed in so-called 'encounters with militants' while in police custody," the statement said.

Referring to Tantray's killing, the Hurriyat said, "This is the second such custodial killing in just over a month in south Kashmir... another youth labelled as hybrid militant, Imran Bashir Ganaie, was arrested and later killed in a similar fashion while he was (being) taken to identify a militant hideout." "Labelling young boys as so-called hybrid militants, overground militant workers, militant sympathisers and then arresting them with impunity under draconian laws has become routine in Kashmir.

"Thousands of young men arrested from all parts of J&K in such a manner are languishing in jails without trial," the amalgam said.

According to police, Tantray was involved in the killing of a non-local labourer in Anantnag's Rakhmomen on November 12.