Baramulla, Dec 24: The Jammu and Kashmir Police seized around 37 12-bore rifles to ascertain the use of a pellet gun in the attack which led to the killing of a former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muhammad Shafi Mir.
Mir was shot dead Sunday morning at a Masjid in the Gantmulla locality of Baramulla while he was reciting
Adhan for Fajr (morning) prayers.
A top official said that around 37 12-bore rifles, which were in the possession of villagers, had been collected by the Police in Baramulla and sent to District Police Lines (DPL) Baramulla.
“These rifles will be checked by the special arms and ammunition technical team to ascertain whether the rifle has been used in the attack or not,” the official said.
The top Police official said that preliminary information was that of a terrorist attack but the weapon used to kill the retired officer suggests other angles as well.
“Investigations are going on and we are looking into it from all angles. Everything will be made public once the investigation is completed,” the official told Greater Kashmir.
A Police spokesman had earlier said that Mir was shot dead by terrorists.
“We are investigating the incident from all possible angles. Not only rivalry but we are investigating other angles as well,” a Police official said.
He said that the officer was shot dead from a point-blank range with a 12-bore rifle and that pellets had been recovered from the crime scene.
The crime scene footage reveals that the assailant broke the Masjid windowpane near the staircase where Mir was reciting Adhan.
Soon after the attack, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) North Kashmir Range (NKR) Vivek Gupta, SSP Baramulla Amod Ashok Nagpure, and senior officers of the Army and CRPF rushed to the spot.
Mir was rushed to the nearby healthcare facility where doctors, after checking his vitals, declared him dead on arrival.
“However, the doctor spotted blood oozing out from the backside of the body following which Police decided to do a postmortem of the body for which the deceased was shifted to GMC Baramulla,” another official said.
The health officials at GMC said that they performed the post-mortem and were waiting for the final report.
“He (Muhammad Shafi Mir) was hit from the backside in the left scapular region due to which his left lung and vasculature of the heart were damaged. This led to massive internal bleeding and ultimately resulted in his death,” the health official said.
At Mir’s residence, the atmosphere turned sombre as his body arrived.
Women wailed, and men recited verses from the holy Quran as the body was prepared for the last rites. Thousands joined the funeral prayers as Mir’s body was laid to rest.