‘Will ensure there is no injustice’: J&K orders magisterial probe into Hyderpora encounter in Srinagar

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the Hyderpora encounter, in which police claimed to have killed two terrorists and two terror associates. “A magisterial inquiry by officer of ADM rank has been ordered in Hyderpora encounter. Govt will take suitable action as soon as report is submitted in a time-bound manner. JK admin reiterates commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians & it will ensure there is no injustice,” Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said in a tweet. The magisterial probe was ordered amidst protests by the family members of three of the four persons killed in the encounter on Monday. The family members of Mohammad Altaf Bhat (the building owner), Mudasir Gul (a tenant) and Amir Magray (Gul’s office boy) have been protesting against the killings, which they have described as cold-blooded murder. They have demanded that the bodies of the deceased be handed over to them for the last rites. All the four persons killed in the encounter were buried in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. Meanwhile, the Hurriyat Conference called for a shutdown on 19 November in support of the families of the two civilians killed in the Hyderpora encounter demanding justice for the victims and return of their bodies. The Hurriyat Conference, in a statement, said the Hyderpora encounter has stunned the people of Kashmir. “Since most leaders and political activists are either in jails or under house detention, to protest such inhumanity (Hyderpora encounter) and in solidarity with the devastated families of the slain civilians and their demand that the bodies of their loved ones be returned to them for burial, people should observe a shut down on Friday on their own", it said.