A top Jaish-e-Mohammad commander Mudasir Khan alias ‘Muhammad Bhai’ was laid to rest at his native Midoora village in southern Tral township on Monday, day after he was killed in a gunfight with forces in nearby Pinglish village.
“Show me the face of my groom, I will greet him with candies and flowers,” Ameena, the mother of Mudasir, told mourners who had gathered in the village to bid adieu to the slain militant.
Local residents told Greater Kashmir that Mudasir’s body wascharred beyond recognition and they had to hurriedly ensure completion of hislast rites.
After four back-to-back rounds of funeral prayers, the slainmilitant was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard.
Mudasir was killed along with his associate, who was identifiedby the army as Khalid from Pakistan.
The forces, according to local residents, used heavy mortarsagainst the militants and razed a concrete residential house to the ground.
Earlier, the bodies of the two militants were taken topolice station Tral, where some families of militants were called to identifythem.
“I saw a few pieces of flesh but couldn’t identify the bodyof my son. A DNA testing team then took our samples and said the result wouldcome in next two days,” Farooq Ahmed Khan, father of Mudasir, said earlier inthe day.
Since his son became a militant, Khan said he was oftencalled to a local army camp as well as an interrogation centre in Srinagar andpolice station Awantipora. He said the forces also raided his home and”harassed” him multiple times.
Tral, (Awantipora)He said the forces also raided his home and “harassed” him multiple times.
Mudasir (24) left his residence in January last year andjoined the Jaish outfit.
Locals remember him as an ace cricketer.
“Due to his top cricketing skills, we called him DavidWarner. Mudasir was a down-to-earth person. He was repeatedly harassed bygovernment forces which eventually forced him to pick up gun,” said a localresident.
A senior police official said in the past one year, severalcordon-and-search operations were launched in Midoora and its adjoiningvillages to trace Mudasir.
To mourn his death, a complete shutdown was observed inTral, even as authorities blocked the internet services in Awantipora policedistrict for the second consecutive day.