Srinagar, Feb 12 A Kashmiri, claimed to have helped Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Naveed Jatt escape from police custody at a hospital here last year, was killed by Indian security forces in Kashmir's Pulwama district. A soldier was also killed in the gunfight, police said.
The killed Kashmiri was identified as Hilal Ahmad Rather, a resident of Behgambagh Kakapora of Pulwama district.
Jatt was killed in an encounter in Budgam in November last year.
The Indian security forces' spokesman claimed that arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.
Body of the killed Kasmiri was handed over to his family after completion of medico-legal formalities, said the spokesman.
He said two Indian security personnel also sustained gunshot injuries in the encounter and were evacuated to a hospital for medical attention. One of them, Jawan Baljeet Singh, succumbed to the injuries, the spokesman said, adding the other soldier is being treated.
Human rights organisations have claimed constant human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory administered by India, including mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech.
UN human rights report on Kashmir in June 2018 has called for international inquiry into ongoing human rights violations and abuses in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Impunity for human rights violations and lack of access to justice are key human rights challenges in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” the report says, noting that the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA) and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978 (PSA) have “created structures that obstruct the normal course of law, impede accountability and jeopardize the right to remedy for victims of human rights violations.”
