Fifteen years after he disappeared, the family of a chemist from Rawalpora in Srinagar organised his funeral prayers today. The prayers were attended by hundreds of people, including separatist leaders.
Manzoor Ahmad Dar of Rawalpora, on the outskirts of Srinagar, was arrested by the Army on January 19, 2002.
His wife, Jana, who was also present today, has maintained in her testimonies before the courts that an Army contingent led by Kishore Malhotra, then a Major with 35 Rashtriya Rifles, had raided their house in the dead of the night.
The funeral prayers-in-absentia for Manzoor were led by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Peer Saifullah on the premises of the local government school in Rawalpora, where a shutdown was also observed today. The prayers were attended, among others, by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik.
Later, people who had participated in the funeral prayers held a peaceful sit-in holding placards and raised slogans demanding stern punishment to the Army officer, Brigadier Kishore Malhotra, named by the police as accused in the case.
“The funeral prayers are not a closure of the case. We will still keep on our search for the body of my father. We will fight the case to see that the guilty officer is hanged,” the victim’s daughter, Bilquees Manzoor, said after the prayers were over.
She said holding funeral prayers in absentia after 15 long years was a “difficult decision” for the family, which was arrived at only after a special Investigation team (SIT) of the J&K Police, in its report to High Court on November 24, 2015, stated that the “disappeared person could have died in custody of 35 RR”.
The police have already invoked charges of abduction, murder and disappearance of evidence against Malhotra and are waiting sanction for prosecution.
After 15-yr wait, chemist’s family holds funeral prayers
