Ganderbal, J&K: Rashid Ahmad Mughal’s WhatsApp display picture still shows the tricolour. Missing since 31 March, his body was later found riddled with bullet marks when his elder brother Aijaz went for identification.
An entire village, as well as his family members, is seething with anger because the resident from Chount Waliwar was labelled a ‘terrorist’ after he was killed in a joint search operation by the army and police in Arhama forests.
Villagers say the 28-year-old was preparing to become a police constable. Back at his home, Rashid’s cousin Imran Ahmad Mughal opens a bag full of documents. Passport-sized photographs, a red Urdu-to-English dictionary and over a dozen papers spill out.
Then, overcome with anger, he says, “This is what my brother Rashid Ahmad used to do. He was not a terrorist. He helped villagers with computer-related documentation because he was the only educated person here.”
Imran is awaiting the outcome of the magisterial inquiry ordered by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha. If justice does not come, he says, the village will take to the streets in protest.
“If we don’t receive the body and the accusation of him being a terrorist is not withdrawn, we will take to the streets,” he warned.
The relatives allege when Aijaz went to identify the body on 1 April—the clothes didn’t match what Rashid was wearing before he left for work. Aijaz is in Srinagar caught in the ongoing investigation.
Rashid’s killing has triggered allegations of a “fake encounter”, with local parties lending its support to the family. The incident has sparked outrage in Ganderbal, the constituency of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The J&K Assembly witnessed uproar over the killing, with the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanding a judicial probe.
Later, the L-G ordered a magisterial inquiry and gave seven days for submitting the report. “I have ordered a thorough and impartial magisterial inquiry into Arhama, Ganderbal incident. The inquiry will examine all aspects related to the incident and ensure that justice is served,” Sinha’s office posted 3 April.
But the L-G’s decision to order the magisterial inquiry itself has brought the army operation under scrutiny. “We are verifying the facts. There are claims that he ran an NGO through which he helped the community,” a senior police officer said.
ThePrint reached a defence spokesperson through texts and calls regarding the allegations surrounding the encounter. This article will be updated as and when a response is received.
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The encounter
In Ganderbal’s Chount Waliwar village, residents gather daily to discuss the encounter. Fear has gripped the village. Young men have stopped going to work, fearing they could be next. The village is mostly inhabited by the Pahari communities.
On the fateful day, Aijaz kept calling Rashid but there was no response. Soon, his phone was switched off. The next day, Aijaz, a labourer, was called to the Police Control Room in Srinagar. He was told that his brother had met with an accident and was asked to identify the body, villagers say.
“Aijaz told us the body was in a terrible condition. It was riddled with bullet marks. He could recognise him only by his hair,” claims Abdul Qayoom, a neighbour. When Aijaz asked for the body, the police refused to hand it over.
Villagers share a photo of Rashid posing beside the national flag—the only image many of them have. “If he was a terrorist, why didn’t the police pick him up earlier? He used to visit the DC and SP offices,” 70-year-old Ghulam Rasool Mughal, a relative of Rashid, questions.
There are several explanations doing the rounds. Some villagers believe that authorities assumed the case would easily die down because he was an orphan. Others suspect that a ‘mukhbir’ (informant), seeking favour from security forces, passed on false information.
Rashid, the youngest of three siblings, lost his father even before he was born and his mother soon followed. Part of his childhood was spent in an orphanage. A devoted fan of Virat Kohli, Rashid never missed a match featuring the cricket superstar, local residents recall.
He was popular in his village as the only educated person with a BCom degree. He often used English words that others found hard to decipher, according to the villagers.
Young boys looked up to him, and residents turned to him for everything—from making job cards and Aadhaar cards to applying for pensions, among other things. Even widows and families would reach out to Rashid for help, they say.
The political parties are questioning the shifting narrative by the Army— first calling Rashid a foreign militant, and then a local linked to militancy creating suspicion around the encounter.
The Army’s Chinar Corps, through its X handle, had posted that under ‘Op Arahama’, it had “eliminated one terrorist” in the Arahama forests of Ganderbal. “During the night of 31 Mar 26, the cordon was tactically reorganised amidst the intermittent firing underway. Own troops effectively retaliated with calibrated response resulting in one terrorist eliminated. Operation is in progress (sic),” it had said.
The silence of the J&K Police is also being questioned. The police have not given any statement regarding the encounter.
Inside Rashid’s two-room house, with bare walls and no hall, relatives have crammed inside, waiting for the return of his body. A large flask of ‘noon chai’ (pink salt tea) is being served. The single bed where Rashid slept remains untouched.
Two days before his death, Rashid had promised his aunt Sirja Banu that he would help her with the domicile certificate. He had got passport-sized photographs for the purpose.
“I want justice for my son. I want his body. And I want the ‘mukhbir’ to be punished the same way,” Sirja says.
“He wanted to join the J&K Police. He wanted to serve the people,” Rashid’s sister Naseema Begum says, grieving at the loss of her brother. “He was a nationalist, and they killed him by calling him a terrorist.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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