The sinister designs of law enforcers turning predators to collect bounties by organizing fake killings has shattered the dreams of scores of families across Kashmir Valley. At least five wailing women from South Kashmir who were part of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) protest here on Thursday narrated their ordeal how some greedy police officers organized fake encounters to collect bounties and add stars to their epaulets.The family members of Nazir Ahmed Deki (Duksum), Showkat Ahmed Khan (Banihal), Ali Muhammad Padroo, Abdul Rehman Padroo (Kokarnag) and Ghulam Nabi Wani (Nabuk Kokarnag) held infamous SOG cop Farooq Ahmed Padroo responsible for the murder of their loved ones. “This greedy cop (Farooq Ahmed Padroo) managed fake encounters for awards and rewards and he was all doing in connivance with the then SSP Ganderbal Hansraj Parihar, DySP Bahdur Ram and ASI Farooq Ahmed Gudoo all languishing in jail.
”Tasleema 32 who has no source of income and has been doing menial jobs to take care of his two little children told CNS that Farooq Padroo picked up her husband outside Tyndale Biscoe School Srinagar where he was selling perfumes (perfumier) on the roadside. “The culprit cop Padroo hails from Larnoo Kokarnag. He knew my husband well as he used to live in his neighbouring village Duksum. Padroo used to target those who were in touch with him or were his relatives. He even killed his cousin Abdul Rehman, a carpenter by profession for cheap publicity, promotions and cash rewards. Padroo picked up my husband in 2006 and his body was exhumed in 2007 from Saloora village of Ganderbal. Police Station Kothibagh where I had lodged an FIR against Padroo helped me in tracing his body. Before pumping four bullets in his body, Padroo had forced him to don Army uniform,” Tasleema said.“Padroo killed his cousin Abdul Rehman as well in a fake encounter at Waskura village of Ganderbal. Offering Rehman a government job and getting Rs 75,000 from him, Padroo asked his cousin to meet him in Srinagar where he was then posted at District Police Lines.
After cajoling and coaxing innocent Rehman, the killer cop brought him to Waskura village and pumped bullets in his body on December 9, 2006. The murder came to light after police found Rehman’s mobile SIM in use and it had been sold by Padroo along with mobile to a youth hailing from Tangmarg,” said a relative of Abdul Rehman.Wife of another victim Ali Muhammad Padder alleged that Farooq Padroo’s brother had taken two lakh rupees from her husband for purchasing a Sumo. When my husband demanded, Padroo managed a fake encounter and killed him,” she said adding that Padroo used to kill anybody because he was patronized by SSP Hansraj Parihar who was even indicted by the state human rights commission for killing one Fayaz Ahmad Beig, a photographer, in custody.The family members of another person Ghulam Nabi Wani told CNS that Wani was killed on 14 March 2006 in a fake encounter by Ganderbal police and 13 RR.
After he was picked up, they shot him dead and branded him a foreign militant. “I was myself present at the exhumation site and identified the body of my innocent husband that time,” she said. The family members of Showkat Ahmed Khan, a resident of Dolipora Banihal also alleged that Showkat was killed in a fake encounter on 5 October 2006 by gang led by SSP Parihar while Farooq Padroo was its architect. “Showkat was an Imam who had gone missing from Zadibal in Old Srinagar city during the night of October 4-5, 2006.The wailing family members alleged that neither government nor the separatist organizations did anything for them though Azad led government in the state that time had promised of monetary help to the families of the victims. “Leave aside government jobs we were not provided a single penny,” they said.Tasleema Bano said that when she approached DC office Anantnag, the officials there refused to look at her file. “Jammu Kashmir Yateem Trust sometimes offers food and clothes to my children,” she said. (CNS)