Family of the slain youth killed in Kud “gunfight” on Monday contested the government’s claim that he was militant.“How can an active militant live and stay at home,” the family said.Tanveer Sultan Sheikh, 31, son of Muhammad Sultan Sheikh of Bemina was killed in a “gunfight” in Kud with CRPF and police, the government said Tuesday.The family of Tanveer said that he was a psychiatric patient and had been getting treatment in a hospital in Amritsar.Arshid Sultan Sheikh, elder brother of Tanveer questioned the claims of the government.“The government must prove my brother was a militant,” he asked. Arshid told KNS that till 2004, his brother was a militant, affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba. “He was arrested later. After his release, he was living a normal life with the family.”“Police officials would usually call him on August 15, January 26 and on other dates. He was constantly under watch from past several years,” he said.“Had my brother been a militant, how can active militant stays at home,” he said.“I believe that the claims made by the government so far are fabricated. Common sense is not ready to accept their claims,” he added.
Arshid told KNS that he was an engineering student at SSM and left his course in the middle of the session in 1997 as he became psychiatric patient. “He was suffering from bipolar psychiatric disorder but with the treatment the level of his disease was decreased from past several years,” he said.He informed that they are six brothers and Tanveer was his 5th.“One more brother, Gowhar Sultan Sheikh, was killed in 1994 in Batamaloo area during an encounter. We are sure about Gowhar’s affiliation with a militant group. He was Divisional Commander of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TeM) at that time but Tanveer who was killed in Kud yesterday was not a militant,” Arshid said.Meanwhile, scores of youth took to streets while demanding the body of the slain youth. “Police disbursed tear smoke shells to disperse the agitated protesters,” eye-witnesses said.The government on Tuesday said that the Bemina youth n was killed in cross-fire after he opened fire on police and paramilitary personnel from inside a bus he travelling on.“The CRPF and JKP started searching vehicles at Karnal Nallah Kud and an SRTC bus bearing registration number JK02 Y 0444 was stopped,” Ghulam Nabi Lone, minister for agriculture production, informed the Lower House after Opposition and PD MLA from Batamaloo ruckus over the shootout. (KNS)