Srinagar, July 27: The traders at Abi Guzar in the City centre on Tuesday staged massive protests against the death of their colleague Farooq Ahmed Bhat of Batamaloo whose body was fished out from a canal two days ago.
 The traders who staged a sit-in outside the deceased’s shop, ¬Cute Ways, refuted the police theory that Farooq could have committed suicide or was a “drug addict”.“The police is habitual of hiding the killings of innocents. It tried the same in Tufail’s, and other killings in Srinagar since last month. No they want to misguide everybody in Farooq’s case well,” the traders alleged.  They said Farooq was a pious man and offered Nimaz five times a day.
 “He was known for his humble behaviour. Why would such a noble being commit suicide?” argued a trader adding he was getting married in September. “Farooq sahib was very concerned about his marriage and was properly planning for the upcoming event. Why would he commit suicide?’ the traders said. They accused the state government of deliberately “covering another innocent killing.” They said the police theory was “enough to reveal its involvement in the killing.”
They appealed the “international community to get the killing probed at an earliest.” The traders also accused the state government of “shielding the killers” asking it to come clear on the incident.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST