Srinagar, Sept 5: “Where are you my son? Why didn’t I stop you from leaving on that fateful day?” screams Abdur Rahim, father of Bilal Ahmed who fell to the bullets of paramilitary CRPF at Pattan in north Kashmir last month.

 The 70-year old Rahim had brought up his son all alone after his wife passed away 2-decades ago. “He was only 3-years old when my wife died. Our entire world has got shattered due to his death. He always passed exams with flying colors. He was first among my children to study beyond 10th class,” he said and broke down.

 Recalling that fateful day Rahim said, “He was fasting and had gone to help labourers at nearby Hanjiwera village .The procession was also coming towards the road where he was working.”

 “Bilal got caught in between protesters and CRPF troopers after clashes broke out. Troopers shot him in thigh and he fell down, but others ran for safety. Blood was continuously oozing through his leg and he couldn’t run,” said an eyewitness Fayaz Ahmed.

 Pertinently, Bilal was shot at and beaten by the CRPF men in the second week of August and he succumbed to injuries at SKIMS Soura 12-days later.
 “He crawled for a few metres and was crying for help. After hearing his screams troopers pushed him in a paddy field and started beating him up with gun butts, bamboo sticks and shields, till he became unconscious,” Fayaz added.

 “They caught hold of his arms and legs and lifted his immobile body. Then they tossed him on ground again and again for 15-minutes.  I saw six troopers kicking his chest. They were beating him up mercilessly,” he said. “I was watching from a distance helplessly.” 

 “Sensing him dead, the CRPF troopers left the spot and some villagers rushed and took him to Pattan hospital where from doctors referred him to Bone and Joint hospital,” victim’s brother Farooq Ahmed told Greater Kashmir.

 “He was operated thrice in SKIMS and breathed his last after battling for life for 12 days,” he added.

 The Medical superintendent SKIMS Soura, Dr Amin Tabish said that his liver was damaged and had blunt trauma on abdomen besides firearm injury in left thigh

Lastupdate on : Sun, 5 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 5 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 6 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST