Srinagar: Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday raised eyebrows over the recently conducted encounter by armed forces in Sringar's Hyderpora, saying that "impartial & credible inquiry" into the matter is an absolute necessity.
Four persons killed in an encounter at Hyderpora in Srinagar included a foreign terrorist, a local militant, an overground worker (OGW) and the house owner.
Reacting to the incident, Abdullah said, "An impartial & credible inquiry in to the recent encounter in Hyderpora is an absolute necessity. There are far too many questions being raised about the encounter & about the people killed."
The National Conference leader also speculated it to be a "fake encounter" and said that such instances have also taken place in the past.
"There have been numerous instances of fake encounters in the past and the questions raised about this #hyderporaencounter need to be answered swiftly & in a credible manner," he tweeted.
The gunfight took place on Monday in a house in which four persons including a foreign terrorist, a local militant and two persons were killed. The police had said that two of the four were overground workers.
Meanwhile, the family of Mudassir Gul, killed in the encounter, protested at the press colony in Srinagar on Tuesday, claiming that he was a doctor and had no involvement in militancy.
"He spoke to his wife last evening. He has two small children and old parents. He was not holding a gun in his hand, he was innocent. He was Dr Mudassir, he is not a terrorist, please give us the dead body back," news agency IANS quoted one of the protesting relatives as saying.
Even the family of the house owner, Altaf Ahmad, alleged that he was used as a human shield by the security forces.
Police have said that a foreign militant identified as Haider and his accomplice were killed in the encounter.
Inspector General Police Vijay Kumar said in a press conference that an overground worker of the militants and the house owner were also killed during the encounter. He said that the house owner was killed in a crossfire while Gul, living on rent in the building, had provided shelter to Haider and his associate.