Srinagar
In a petition (OWP 939/2016) filed by Sajad Ahmad Wani seeking investigation into the killing of his father namely Abdul Khaliq Wani on June 6, 1993 by MLA Usman Majeed, then a member of Ikhwan ul Muslimeen, and his other Ikhwan associates – the High Court on Friday directed Jammu and Kashmir police to file the status report in the case, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said in a statement. “The High Court also asked whether the police have filed the closure report in the case before any judicial magistrate which is mandatory under law.”
Pertinently, police had closed the case as untraced in December 1993 and did not submit any closure report, which they were legally bound to submit before the concerned magistrate under section 173 of Cr Pc.
“It’s rare that an incident that took place on 16 June 1993 and within six months the police shut the investigation. Usman Majeed was a powerful and an infamous counter-insurgent gunman who later became member of the Legislative Assembly and a minister of the state. Therefore, we believe that all state governments since then have obliged him by not conducting a fair investigation,” the JKCCS said in the statement.
On 6 June 1993, Ikhwani turned lawmaker Usman Majeed, shot dead Abdul Khaliq Wani, a resident of Madwan, Hajin, Bandipora, for his association with Jamaat-e-Islami. This killing was witnessed by the family members of the victim – whose testimony was never taken by the police. Police filed an FIR against unidentified gunmen, the statement reads.
On June 3, 2016, Justice S Ramalingam, of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court admitted a petition in this case, issued notice for response to the parties including MLA Usman Majeed, and directed for a status report by the police to be filed on the next date of hearing in the week of July 11, 2016. The State government and the other two accused have so far responded to the court, but the main accused Usman Majeed has chosen to disregard the court notice, the statement claimed.
