Srinagar, June 30: Rehmatullah Bhat, 52, a baker at Munawarbad shares grief of 11 families of the Valley which lost their beloveds to bullets of paramilitary CRPF and police in past 19 days.
 “I can feel the pain of the bereaved families. It is an unbearable moment for a father to shoulder his son’s coffin,” Bhat said as his eyes turned moist. 
 It was exactly on this day in 2006 when his crippled son, Inayat-ull-ah Bhat (30), was killed by troopers near his bakery shop— just for demanding money for the bread. On his fourth death anniversary, his hapless father accused the Government of hushing up the case.
 “Four years have passed since my son was killed in cold blood by the troopers. Despite eye-witness accounts and circumstantial evidence, the accused troopers are yet to be punished. Can the Government tell me for how many years, I have to wait to get justice?,” Bhat asked. 
 A graduate turned musician, Inayat had suffered multiple fracture on his hip bone when he fell from third storey of his house—three years before his killing. He was operated upon many times and remained bedridden for nearly two years.
 “The troopers had cooked up a story to cover up the killing. They claimed to have mistaken Inayat as a Fidayeen as he ran towards their camp. While the fact is Inayat could not even walk properly without support not to talk of running. Besides the troopers knew him well as they regularly used to purchase bakery items from our shop,” Bhat argues.
 Incidentally, when Inayat was killed, the National Conference, which was in opposition, had strongly condemned the killing. “The senior NC leader and former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah visited our house and promised to press for punishment to the accused. But his promises turned out to be bundle of lies. If Dr Farooq was serious then he would have easily brought the accused to book as his son heads the coalition government,” said Inayat’s brother, Rais Ahmad
 After failing to get justice, the family had knocked the doors of State Human Rights Commission in 2006
 In its reports to the Commission, the then Director General of Police had admitted that Inayat was killed by a trooper, Manzir Ali Khan of Uttar Pradesh belonging to CRPF’s 46th battalion stationed at a local hotel.
 The DGP had stated that the accused trooper was arrested and bailed out and the matter was under investigation.
 The Commission had castigated the police for “casual probe” into the incident. “After examination of the available material, it is proved beyond doubt that Inayatullah Bhat was fired upon by Manzir Ali Khan of CRPF of 46th battalion. However, the investigating officer and SHO has not applied the relevant sections of the law against the accused and the investigation has been conducted in perfunctory manner,” the Commission states in a recently pronounced judgment.
 The Commission has directed the SSP Srinagar through DGO to finalize the case under his supervision on merits. However, Inayat’s family says justice was being denied to them.
 “We will not sit unless the accused trooper is not punished. We will soon file a petition against the Government for hushing up the case and press for murder charges against the accused troopers,” Rais said.  
 Pertinently, Inayat’s killing had triggered violent demonstrations and clashes in the city for many days. Police had registered a case (FIR No. 56/2006) under section 304-A. The CRPF had also initiated a departmental probe into the killing, however its result has not been made public yet.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 1 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST