Zahoor is a walnut trader, not TRF commander; he quit militancy in 2006, says Father
Srinagar: Family members and relatives of Zahoor Ahmad Rather from Dooru area of Anantnag on Monday staged protest at press colony Srinagar and said that Zahoor was associated with walnut trade and is not The Resistance Front (TRF) commander.
While talking with reporters at Press Colony Srinagar, the family members and relatives of Zahor said that their son is innocent and has nothing to do with militancy since he surrendered in 2006.
They said that Zahoor was arrested from a rented accommodation in Jammu where he was selling walnuts in winters from last three to four years to earn livelihood
They also said that he has two little kids and his wife has been unwell since the police took him.
“We don’t have any source of income and belong to a poor family and to reach here we had to sell our sheep to bear the expenses of fare to reach Srinagar,” Zahoor’s father Gh Hassan Rather told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), adding that since his arrest “we have been moving from pillar to post to know about his whereabouts but to no avail.”
“We have contacted every authority but nobody is telling us where our son is. We appeal to the authorities at least tell us where he is and look into his case as he has been arrested without any charges,” he said.
They requested LG Manoj Sinha, DGP, IGP to look into the matter and do justice.
It is pertinent to mention here that Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar had told KNO that a police team from Anantnag district travelled to Samba and caught the Lashkar (TRF) militant alive. “The arrested militant had killed three BJP workers and a police man last year in Kulgam district and was wanted,” he said. He said that the militant was being brought to Kashmir for further investigations.
Police in a statement also said that Zahoor was involved in the killing of three BJP workers in Vessu area of district Kulgam, last year. “He was also involved in the killing of a policeman namely HC Abdul Rashid Dar of Furrah on July 22, 2020 outside his residence. Besides target killings in South Kashmir, he was also instrumental in recruiting innocent youth into militant ranks. He along with another militant Abbas Sheikh were running the militant outfit LeT (TRF),” the police had said.
They also said that a preliminary inquiry revealed that the arrested militant had joined LeT (TRF) outfit in year 2020.
Moreover, he was earlier affiliated with Hizb in the year 2002 and crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) for obtaining arms training. “He along with some foreign militants infiltrated back via Rajouri and later on surrendered before security forces in the year 2006,” Police stated.
J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh on Sunday in a press conference in Jammu has also termed his arrest as big success to security forces and said that Pakistan handlers were aware about his potential that is why he was made commander of TRF—(KNO)