Srinagar, Oct 22: Anees Ahmed Wani (25) who was critically injured in the deadly shootout at hotel Silver Star last week succumbed to his injuries here today. Anees was to get married immediately after Eid-ul-Azha.
Anees a resident of Inderbug village of Lolab area in frontier district of Kupwara was one among the three injured in the hotel shootout Friday evening and was undergoing treatment in SMHS hospital here. He was working as a waiter in the hotel for the last five months.
“He succumbed to his injuries at 6.30 am,” doctors at SMHS Hospital told Greater Kashmir. “Bullets had ripped through his abdomen and damaged his pancreas and kidneys. The kidneys were defunct and he was paralyzed,” they added.
A doctor who carried out the surgery of Anees said that such patients hardly come out alive.
Family sources said that Anees was scheduled to get married 10 days after Eid. “We had made preparations for his marriage and had already conveyed dates of marriage to our relatives,” Abdul Rashid, one of Aneee’s relatives told Greater Kashmir over telephone. “It is not less than a doomsday for we people,” he added.
Anees is survived by two brothers, two sisters, besides his ailing mother and father.
Anees’s father Habibullah is suffering from Prolapsed Inter-Vertebral Disc (PIVD) and is bed ridden for the last three months. “Anees was lone bread earner in the family and he used to spend his earnings on his ailing parents,” Rashid said and added that one of his brothers is working on shop in Kupwara market.
Anees was laid to rest at his ancestral village with hundreds of people of Inderbug and adjoining villages participating in the funeral procession.

POLICE INVESTIGATING WHY CCTVS WERE OFF
Though police Sunday said there was no breakthrough yet in hotel Silver Star shootout that left two persons dead, preliminary investigations have revealed that closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras fitted in the hotel were not functional when the incident took place.
“Yet there is no breakthrough,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police Central Kashmir Syed Afad-ul-Mujtaba told Greater Kashmir. “Investigations are on,” he said.
A senior police official, who is part of the investigating team, however, told Greater Kashmir that the CCTVs fitted in and outside the hotel were not functional when the shootout took place. “The investigations reveal that the CCTV cameras were not functioning at the time of incident,” the police officer said adding that CCTV footage is vital to solving the shootout case.
“The footage can give us a lead. CCTV camera footage can produce images or recordings for surveillance purposes that is needed in investigations,” he said and added that they are investigating why the cameras were not functional. “We do not have any leads yet,” he added.
The police official said that non-functioning of CCTV cameras has put a question mark on hotel management. “The hotel people have to clarify why the cameras were not functioning at the time of incident,” he said and added that non-functioning factor emerged during the checking of CCTV footage of the hotel. “We did not the see footage when the shootout in hotel took place,” he said.
Divulging the details about the investigations, the police official said they have recorded the statements of some the employees of the hotel. “We also questioned the owner of the hotel,” he said and added that around four eyewitnesses have also been questioned in this connection.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST