AwantiporaThousands of people on Thursday attended multiple funeral prayers of slain militant (16) in his native village Aghanjipora Awantipora.
Irshad was killed along with his two Lashkar e Toiba (LeT) associates Shakir and Majid in a gunfight with government forces early morning at Kakapora area of Pulwama district on Thursday.
He was laid to rest amid sobs in a nearby graveyard at Awantipora.
The slain with seven siblings was the younger son of his old aged parents. He had joined militant ranks 40 days before and left his studies midway to help his aged father and his family by extracting sand from the river Jehlum which is the common occupation of the whole village.
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Waling near his body Jana his mother said after joining militant ranks, “it was first time when my son called me late at night and asked me pray to Allah for accepting his martyrdom.”
Accusing forces of compelling her son to join militant ranks, Jana said, “my son was polite and was known for his kindness in the whole village.”
She said police used to call up his father to the police station and often forced him to send his younger son to police station without any reason.
Haseena his only unmarried sister said, “locals informed us that my brother was trapped in a cordon, we rushed towards the encounter site and there people informed, my brother has fled from cordon at Sehri time,” adding at 6 am they came to know about his death.
“We tried very hard to find our younger brother but didnt succeed in finding him and after lodging FIR in a local police station, we came to know he has joined the militant ranks,” Haseena said.
With the fear of slapping PSA and getting arrested by the police Irshad left home, she alleged.
Accusing forces from the nearby camp a local youth said army personals often use to raid Dar’s house and damage their property. “This brutality beame the main reason for him to join militant ranks,” he said adding that army often call locals to the camp and ask them for ID’s and contact numbers.