Hizb threatens families of cops

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, December 1

The militant outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen, today threatened policemen that their families could be harmed if cops “harassed” relatives of militants in the Kashmir valley.

The outfit’s commander, Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Moosa, issued the threat in a video message which has been circulated widely on social networking platforms, including Facebook and Whatsapp.

“You have made a huge mistake by messing with our families. A huge mistake by involving them,” says Bhat in the video. “The war was between you and us but you have involved families in this,” he says.

In an apparent reference to an IED blast in the Tral area on the evening of November 4, in which a police official was grievously injured, Bhat says the families of militants were being targeted after the blast. “It was just a minor blast and you have started harassing our families,” says Bhat while flaunting an automatic weapon.

Bhat, who was pursuing an engineering degree in Punjab before joining militants, was made the commander of the outfit after the killing of Burhan Wani on July 8.

The trend of sending video messages was initiated by Burhan and the new leadership of the outfit seems to be carrying on with the practice.

Today’s video is Bhat’s second since he was made the commander of the outfit. However, the video does not start with the customary greetings and quotes from the Holy Quran.

“I am forgiving you, taking this as your first mistake,” says Bhat while reminding the policemen that they too have families.

“You mess with our families and we will not let go of yours,” says Bhat. This is an apparent shift in the approach of the outfit. Burhan, too, had rebuked the policemen for involving families of militants but at the same time he had invoked the Holy Quran and added that the militants won’t mess with the cops’ relatives. However, he time and again threatened policemen with their lives.

Bhat goes on to say, “Do you think your families are safe because they are in Jammu? We can bury them anywhere, whether they are in Jammu or Kanyakumari. We are very much capable of doing that.”