LeT militants offer 'gun salute' to slain associate in Kashmir

A group of Lashker-e-Toiba militants on Sunday afternoon appeared at the funeral of a slain associate to offer “gun salute” in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

Witnesses said atleast four militants appeared in the funeral of LeT commander, Fayaz Ahmad alias Setha and fired a volley of bullets in the air in the form of “gun salute.” Setha, a resident of Kaimoh, Kulgam was killed in retaliatory fire by police on Saturday night after militants attacked a police party which had gone to Mir Bazaar area to investigate a road accident. Three civilians and a policeman were also killed in the attack.

Sources said Setha was killed when he attempted to snatch a AK-47 rifle from a policeman after the attack. He was one of the accused in the August 2015 attack on a BSF convoy in Udhampur in which two paramilitary personnel were killed and 13 others were injured. The case was subsequently transferred to NIA for investigation.

Soon after the attack, police had arrested a Pakistani national and member of LeT, later identified as Mohammad Naveed alias Usman. However, Setha, who had driven the truck to Udhampur in which militants travelled from Kashmir was absconding since then. Setha, who was in his early thirties, as per his relatives, was father of one-year-old male child.

There have been a number of instances of militants appearing at the funerals of slain associates in the last two years in what appears to have taken the shape of a disturbing trend.  “This trend reminds of the times in 1990s when militancy had just begun in Kashmir. It also hints at the volatility of the situation in south Kashmir,” a senior police official told DH.

“The growing crowds at the funerals of slain militants not only indicate a groundswell for separatism, the crowds also try to provide cover for holed up militants during encounters. People are made to come out and protest. It sometimes leads to violence that’s intended to divert our attention and help militants escape," he said.