On Monday, when the winter vacations were set to end in Kashmir, schools and colleges remained shut after the killing of a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant and three young men in a Shopian village sparked tension across the Valley. The locals claim the three boys were innocent while the Army and police say the matter is under investigation.

The Lashkar militant was identified as Amir Ahmad Malik. One AK-74, three magazines and 88 rounds were recovered from him.

But it was the death of the other three – Sohail Khalil Wagay, 22, Shahid Khan, 20, and Shahnawaz Ahmad Wagay, 23 – that cast a pall of gloom across Shopian’s Pahnoo village, where the gunfight reportedly took place. By 9 am on Monday, villagers began pouring out of their homes, heads hanging low and arms tucked inside their pherans, quietly making their way to the homes of the slain to offer their condolences.

Just as the news of Sunday night’s deaths began to sink in, two more bodies were recovered on Monday morning.

About 250 metres from the site of Sunday’s gunfight, locals noticed a blue, bullet-ridden Wagon R which had veered off the road. Gowhar Ahmad Lone, 22, was found dead inside the car. The Army has said Lone’s link to militants is under investigation.

Just 10 km away, in Saidpora village, another militant was found dead in an apple orchard. The deceased, Ashiq Hussain Bhat, is also believed to have been a Lashkar operative.

Cries of ‘Azaadi’, ‘Go India Go Back’ and ‘Musa Musa Zakir Musa*’, meanwhile, returned to Shopian as four separate funerals were held for each of the men whose terror links are under investigation.

Sohail Khalil Wagay’s family denied claims that he was an over-ground worker (OGW) for the militants and told Newslaundry that he was returning from Pehlipora, a neighbouring village, after dropping his mother at a relative’s place when he was gunned down. Similarly, relatives of Shahid Khan insisted that he was innocent and that he had been murdered.

Some militants are said to have attended the funeral of Ashiq Hussain Bhat at his village, Rakh Kapran, and even offered a gun salute.

Army’s version

According to the Army, two speeding vehicles were spotted approaching a mobile vehicle checkpost (MVCP) near Pahnoo around 8 pm on Sunday. When they did not halt despite being signalled to stop, searchlights were flashed at them. The persons inside both vehicles responded by firing indiscriminately, according to the Army, forcing a counter-measure, which led to the death of the first militant, Malik. The three other men in one car were “found dead”. The second vehicle, which had sped off, was found the next day with Lone’s body.

The Valley shuts down

Around 9.30 pm on Sunday, the Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Mohammad Yaseen Malik, called for a Valley-wide shutdown to mark the protest against “civilian” killings.

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq tweeted: “Mayhem in #Shopian! #Army shoots dead three youth Suhail Wagay, Shahid Khan, Shahnawaz Wagay all civilians travelling in a car. JRL& the people of Kashmir strongly condemn this brutality of the forces & to express deep resentment & anger will observe a complete #strike tomorrow.”

Curfew-like restrictions were imposed subsequently in parts of Srinagar as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order problem. According to the police, section 144 was imposed in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the police stations in MR Gunj, Nowhatta, Safa Kadal, Khanyar and Rainwari in the city’s downtown and Shehar-e-Khas (SeK) neighbourhoods. Restrictions have also been imposed in areas under the police station Kralkhud in the Old City and Maisuma in Civil Lines.

J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted her condolences: “Deeply distressed by more deaths of civilians caught in the crossfire in Shopian. My heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s families.”

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (PSC) postponed four Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) exams scheduled for Monday. New dates for the same are yet to be announced. All government schools and colleges also postponed the exams scheduled for Monday. Education minister Altaf Bukhari said all institutions will remain shut until Wednesday “to avoid a law and order situation”.

Omar Abdullah, working president of the opposition National Conference, said the state government should make public the details of the incident and also the circumstances leading up to it.

“The chief minister has termed the deceased as civilians and it is hence incumbent upon her (Mehbooba Mufti) to take stringent, legal action on the basis of the information she has as home minister of the state. As the head of the unified command, her word has to be the final word and has to be followed by visible, concrete action,” Abdullah said.

An Army officer, not an ordinary criminal: SC

On Monday, the Supreme Court put on hold a probe against Major Aditya Kumar in a case involving the killing of three civilians in Shopian late this January. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered the state government to put the investigation on hold till April 24, when it would deliver its ruling in this case.

“After all, it is a case of an Army officer, not an ordinary criminal,” the Chief Justice observed.

On January 27, two civilians were killed when Indian Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganawpora village in Shopian district. The mob was protesting the killing of a militant.

On January 31, the death toll rose to three when a civilian succumbed to his injuries. A complete shutdown was observed in Shopian for seven consecutive days to protest against the killings.

In lieu of the civilian deaths, the police had registered an FIR under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 336 (endangering life) against the Army’s 10 Garhwal Regiment for the killing of the two youth. The FIR also named Army officer Major Aditya.

In a reverse statement, the Army claimed that troops had only fired in self-defence after coming under heavy stone-pelting from the youth and that an attempt had also been made to lynch a junior commissioned officer.

While the Legislative Assembly was in session, CM Mufti had assured that the investigation into the civilian killings would be taken to its “logical end”. “The Army would not be demoralised by the registration of a single FIR. There can be black sheep in the Army also,” she had said in the Assembly.

In response to the case against Major Aditya, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed: “The government and the defence ministry will stand by the Army, which is working under severe duress in J&K. We will not let our soldiers down.”

Last month, Major Aditya’s father had filed a case asking the court to cancel the FIR against his son, calling it “bad in law”.

The top court’s ruling on Monday came after the Jammu and Kashmir government underlined that Major Aditya had not been named as an accused in the FIR registered by the police, but only as the Army officer leading the police convoy.

*Zakir Musa, 23, is a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander and the head of the al Qaeda-linked group Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind. He is at the top of a new list of most wanted terrorists operating in the Valley.