All roads to killed ex-sarpanch’s house in Kashmir barred, Cong says political murder

On Saturday, the Congress claimed its state president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who belongs to Dooru and was close to Malik, as well as its J&K vice-president G N Monga, who represents panchayats in the Legislative Council, were not allowed to meet Malik’s family.

Malik had been in police custody for 45 days after being arrested for alleged participation in protests and stone-pelting. According to both the Army and police, he was killed, just 2 km from Batagund village, after he snatched a weapon from a policeman and fired on an Army patrol near Cherikari.

The Congress as well as Malik’s relatives and neighbours have called the killing a political conspiracy. Malik is the first mainstream leader to be killed by security forces. The other panchayat members killed previously have been gunned down by militants.

He is survived by his parents and seven children.

The 440 households of Batagund have long been divided over loyalties for the Congress and ruling PDP. Malik belonged to a Congress family, with his father Mohammed Abdullah becoming a Congress sarpanch before militancy erupted in the Valley. Malik joined militant ranks in 1996 and was arrested in 2002. After his release, Malik joined the Congress and grew close to senior party leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who belongs to a neighbouring village.

Malik’s elder sister Mehbooba Akthar says, “On the day he was killed, police had told us he would be released. In the evening when we were waiting for his release, the Dooru police called us and told us he had been killed in an encounter.”

She claims Malik was arrested at the behest of a senior leader, and wasn’t released despite three bail orders. “My brother became the victim of political rivalry. He was a staunch Congress worker who secured 530 votes in the panchayat elections in May 2011. At that time, the PDP candidate got just 30 votes.”

Congress president Mir also called it a fake encounter, and demanded a judicial probe. Questioning police’s claims of him being a militant, he says, “Such incidents further alienate people who have already lost faith in this government.”

Malik’s friend Mohammad Iqbal says Malik wouldn’t have risked his life by snatching a weapon and attacking the Army, as police have claimed he did. “How can a person who is the only earning member of his family, comprising aged parents and seven children, do such a thing?”

Malik’s neighbour Zaheer Abbas says he was a popular leader. “During the 2014 floods, he had sold his own poplar trees to arrange food for the villagers. He was a very humble man.”

An Army spokesman said they stood by their version.