Families express happiness on knowing whereabouts of trio
Three persons who had going missing in Kupwara in 2015 have been apprehended near Line Of Control (LoC) while returning back home from Pakistan administrated Kashmir, officials sources said on Monday.
They told GNS that the trio had crossed over the LoC in November 2015 and were apprehended in Keran sector of frontier Kupwara district while returning back home.
A police officer said that they were apprehended by army’s 3 JAK LI (Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry) soon after they crossed the border near Balbir Post on Sunday. The trio include Ali Muhammad Sheikh (47) son of Abdul Aziz of Trehgam, Ghulam Jeelani Khatana (48) of Dardpora Kralpora and Mir Hussain Khatana (48) son of Muhammad Ismail of Dardpora, Kralpora. The sources said that all of them have told investigators that they did not cross LoC in connection with militancy related reasons but crossed over to other side of Kashmir “accidentally”.
Regarding Ali Mohammad sources that he is a former militant who had crossed the LoC for the first time in 1990 and returned back this part of Kashmir 1991 and then crossed in 1996 and returned back in 1997. He later surrendered before the army.
Regarding Mir Hussain, sources said that he too is an ex-militant of Al-Badr outfit and had crossed the LoC for the first in 1990. He surrendered soon after returning in 1992. After release, sources said, he again went across the LoC in 1996 and returned back and surrendered before the BSF in the same year.
About Ghulam Jeelani, he crossed the LoC for the first in 2015, they said.
In 2015, after the trio went missing, their families had claimed that they were ‘lured’ by a Territorial Army man, Manzoor Ahmad, for “some job” in the Army. The police had later arrested Manzoor following orders by a court.
Meanwhile, family members of the trio expressed happiness on coming to know that their kin are alive.
“We had apprehensions about their safety and on knowing that they are safe, we are happy,” Javed Gorsi, son-in-law of Ghulam Jeelani told GNS. “We had no information whether they were alive or dead and on being informed that they are presently in police station Kupwara after being shifted from Keran, we are happy,” added Gorsi, who said that family members of other two persons accompany him.
Amid hue and cry, the army had then ordered an inquiry into the disappearance of three persons and then General officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Satish Dua had promised action “if the role of the army is established, action will follow.”
