Thousands attend last rites of doctor
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 21: Security forces today carried out a massive search operation to track down the militants behind the killing of a Kashmiri doctor and six migrant tunnel workers in Gangangeer area of Ganderbal district.
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The attack took place last evening and soon after it, police and Army launched a joint search operation in the area to trace the attackers, suspected to be two to three in number.
Top security officials are camping in Ganderbal to oversee the operation. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team also reached Ganderbal to assist in the initial probe.
Militant group, The Resistance Front, believed to be the shadow group of Lashkar-e-Toiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the construction workers.
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“TRF chief Sheikh Sajjad Gul, based in Pakistan, is the mastermind of this attack. On his instructions, the local module of TRF became active, which for the first time targeted Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri people together,” an official said here.
The workers who were attacked are working for the infrastructure company building the 6.5 km Z-Morh tunnel near Gagangeer on the Srinagar-Sonamarg route. The Z-Morh tunnel, which is nearing completion, is one of two tunnels that will connect Ladakh with the outside world through an all-weather road.
Those killed in the attack include two from J&K, including a Kashmiri doctor, three from Bihar and one each from Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
In the meantime, thousands of people this morning attended the last rites of 52-year old Dr Shahnawaz Qadir Dar at Naidgam village of Budgam district.
Just two weeks ago, Dar married his daughter and there were celebration at the house which so quickly gave way to mourning after the killing of doctor.
“This has come like a bolt of lightning from the sky. The family was still celebrating the wedding and now this news,” said Ali Mohammad, a neighbour of the doctor.
Shahnawaz raised his siblings after the early death of their parents, his sister said. “He was both our father and mother… Today, we have really been orphaned,” she said.
The doctor is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. His son Mohsin told reporters that his dreams have been shattered by the killing of his father.
“My father was an honest and respectable man in this area. He wanted me to become a doctor, but I aspired to become an IAS officer. My grandfather, a police Inspector, believed in me and had faith that I would achieve that dream. My father was determined to do everything he could to help me become an IAS officer. But after hearing yesterday’s news, my dreams are shattered. Now, I have to take care of myself and my family. I urge the administration to help me fulfil my dream,” he said.
A local in the area said that he has no words to describe the killing of Dr Shahnawaz. “He is a martyr to me. This attack has left these children orphaned and deprived the family and workers who depended on him for support. I condemn it. I urge the police and administration to bring the killers to justice, as such incidents have been happening since 1947. In another village, two brothers were killed, and to this day, no one knows who their killers are”, he said.
Ministers Sakina Itoo and Javed Ahmad Dar visited the family of the doctor and expressed sympathies with the family.
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