Muhammad Raafi
KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
In a first case of its kind, funeral prayers of a disappeared man were held on Tuesday.
Led by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader, Peer Saifullah, thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers-in-absentia. Kashmir has over 8000 civilians who disappeared in last 24 years.
Fourteen Years ago in the intervening night of 18/19 January, Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a chemist from Rawalpora was picked up from his home at Rawalpora by “unknown gunmen”.
Thousands of people, today, turned up for his funeral prayers in absentia. An FIR under section 364 (abduction) was registered in Sadar police station against Army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles. The investigations found Major Kishore Malhotra (now brigadier) as an accused.
On November 26 2015, the Special Investigation Team probing the custodial disappearance of Manzoor concluded that the victim died in custody of Army’s 35 Rashtriya Rifles led by Major Kishore Malhotra after he was abducted from his residence in January 2002 and “his body could have been disposed off”.
Subsequently, Manzoor’s family decided to offer funeral prayers in absentia for him—accepting the “likelihood of him being killed in custody”.
The prayers were held at the grounds of Government High School Rawalpora at 2 pm today in which besides Hurriyat (g) activists, JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik also participated.
