Hizbul Mujahideen behind 'dastardly' killing of young Army officer in Kashmir, suspect police

 Srinagar: A day after militants abducted and killed a 22-year-old Kashmiri Army officer in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, it had come to light that men belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen may have been behind the dastardly act.

Also, the Jammu and Kashmir police suspect that an INSAS rifle snatched from cops could have been used in the crime, .

A senior police official also said today that Fayaz's body did not bear any torture marks while adding that the post-mortem report is awaited.

"We have conducted preliminary investigations. It does point out to (the involvement of) a module of Hizbul Mujahideen active in Shopian," Inspector General of Police Kashmir SJM Gillani said, as per PTI.

Police have found two empty cartridges of an INSAS rifle at the place where Fayaz was shot dead by the militants in Shopian.

"We had two incidents of weapon-snatching in south Kashmir recently. We have leads that the Kulgam snatching was carried out by Lashkar militants while Hizb militants were involved in weapon-snatching at Shopian court complex (on May 2). So it could be one of those weapons," he said.

Gillani said the post mortem report was awaited but added that there were no torture marks on Fayaz's body.

"The doctors and police officers who examined the body did not find any torture marks," he said.

Fayaz had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of his maternal uncle at Batapura, about 74 kms from here, from where he was abducted by the militants at around 10 pm on Tuesday. His bullet riddled body was found yesterday morning.

On his first leave since joining the Army, he had reached Batapura from Akhnoor in Jammu region where he was posted with 2 Rajputana Rifles. He was supposed to return to his unit on May 25.

Locals said that three militants entered the house where the wedding function was underway and asked Fayaz to accompany them. 

Hailing from Kulgam district, Fayaz was commissioned in the Army in December last year.

The Army has vowed "to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror to justice". 

"This marks a watershed moment in the Kashmir Valley and people of Kashmir will decisively turn the tide against terrorism," Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, Colonel of Rajputana Rifles and General Officer Commanding in Chief of the South Western Command, had said yesterday as per IANS.

He had added that the people of Kashmir would have to rise collectively and hit back at the "cowards and perpetrators" of the heinous crime.

The Kashmiris can no longer tolerate such tragic losses of their "beloved sons", Lt Gen Krishna had said.

Assuring the family that "perpetrators of the heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared", he had said, "the complete Army fraternity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the bereaved family at this tragic hour."