SRINAGAR: J&K’s Omar Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) govt announced Tuesday a magisterial probe into the deaths of two tribal Gujjar brothers whose bodies were recovered recently after a month of disappearance in Kulgam district.
Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary made the announcement during a visit to Kulgam and said the govt would push for a judicial inquiry — as the families of the deceased have been demanding — through lieutenant-governor (LG) Manoj Sinha. Nasir Aslam Wani, CM Omar’s adviser, accompanied Choudhary.
Showkat Ahmad Bajad’s body was found in a decomposed condition on March 16 in a river in Kulgam. Brother Riyaz’s corpse was found nearby on March 13. Showkat and Riyaz had been missing since Feb 13. There is still no trace of Mukhtar Ahmad Awan village, a relative of the brothers who had accompanied them to a wedding in Mir Bazar area of the same district the day all three went missing. The three worked in a brick kiln.
The magisterial probe was announced amid allegations by opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the NC govt was not acting on the issue. PDP MLA Waheed Parra had on Monday described deaths of Gujjars “as part of a pattern”. Parra cited another youth’s suicide after alleged police torture in Kathua last month as well as the latest deaths in Kulgam, saying all should probed as they were tied to one specific community.
The home department comes under LG after J&K became a Union Territory following the Aug 2019 annulment of special status under Article 370. Since Omar took oath as CM in Oct 2024, he and his govt have repeatedly pleaded helplessness whenever law and order and security related issues surface.
When BJP members created a ruckus recently in assembly over police baton-charge on daily wagers in Jammu, Omar asserted he was not in control of police and asked the MLAs to raise the matter with LG.
On Tuesday, adviser Wani said the Omar govt had already appealed to LG Sinha for a judicial probe into the latest case. “Whether in Kathua or here in Kulgam, we don’t know anything (about the exact cause of deaths). That is why we have ordered a magisterial probe,” Wani said. Many MLAs have also pressed for action against cops for allegedly beating up protesting women mourners in Kulgam after Showkat’s body was found on Sunday.