Police have registered a case of murder under section 302 Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and 7/25 Arms Act in police station Pattan.
Is the restive Jammu and Kashmir staring at militant gang wars once again?
Jammu and Kashmir police suspects that the three militants of Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), whose bodies were found strewn in an orchard on Monday, might have been killed by a rival group to avenge the killings of former militants and Hurriyat activists in May-June.
Bullet-ridden bodies of Ashiq Ahmed Wani, Amir Ahmed Reshi and Naveed Ahmad were recovered from an orchard at Shutz-Dangerpora village in Baramulla district.
Police have registered a case of murder under section 302 Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and 7/25 Arms Act in police station Pattan.
Cops are suspecting that the trio might have been killed by the rival militant group and their bodies later dumped in the isolated orchard.
"We are looking into the angle of an inter-group rivalry. It seems they had become victim of the internal feud given the turf war in north Kashmir area. It remains to be seen what will be the fallout of the gang war since three among the cadres of a rival group have been killed in cold blood ", said a police officer.
Hitherto unknown, LeI hogged the limelight when their posters appeared in Sopore asking telcos to wind up business and tower landlords to switch off their towers.
Tensions started building in May when police busted the hi-tech communication system of suspected militants in Sopore. Police said the militants had secretly planted a highly sophisticated antenna as well as radio communication devices on the mobile tower of a service provider in Badami Bagh, Sopore.
LeI, according to police, constitutes the cadres of Hizbul Mujhadeen who have rebelled against the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK)-based chief and head of United Jihad Council (UJC) Syed Salah-ud-din and are operating independently in Sopore area.
The group, police sources said, believes in waging a radical form of jihad which is bereft of any control from any leader particularly the separatist politicians.
Though the Geelani-led Hurriyat had called LeI a creation of agencies, the outfit had strongly opposed them asking the hardliners to probe the role of their men in the killing of some top commanders in encounters in Kashmir.
Even if it was not enough, the group had asked Hurriyat leaders to desist from offering funeral prayers of militants sending a clear signal about their intent.
Later Hizbul Mujhadeen supremo expelled LeI chief Qayoom Najar for alleged anti-party activities. This time round Hizbul has made an about turn saying that government agencies are intentionally giving hype to 'non-existent' Lashkar-e-Islam in a bid to create an impression that internal feud resulted into the death of three youth.
"All the three martyrs Amir Reshi, Ashiq Ahmed and Naveed were affiliated with Hizbul Mujhadeen. The paid agents of India and counter-insurgents are responsible for the cold blooded murder of these militants.," Hizbul spokesperson Salim Hashmi, while quoting outfit chief Syed Salahuddin, said.
Meanwhile, Hurriyat-hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for a shutdown on Wednesday in Kashmir against the killings of the trio.
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 "Three militants killed in suspected gang-rivalry")
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