Srinagar: Senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has accused the police and Army of staging a ‘fake encounter’, saying that the militant that police claims was killed in an encounter in Sopore was actually arrested and then ‘murdered’ in custody.
“According to the local people, Mohammad Shafi Sheikh of Zaloora was arrested by SOG [Special Operations Group] and 22-RR [Army’s Rashtriya Rifles] and then he was murdered in custody and cunningly staged a fake encounter to hide this murder”, Geelani said in a statement.
Police claimed to have killed a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit in Sopore Sunday morning. The slain militant was identified as Shafi Sheikh, a resident of Zaloora, Sopore.
“While declaring the arrest of four members of Naikoo family as unjustified, Geelani Sahab said that they have been accused of providing shelter to the slain Mujahid, while the locals said that Mohammad Shafi Sheikh was arrested somewhere else and martyred in a fake encounter”, a statement by Hurriyat read.