By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar : For the family of Shabir Ahmad Malik, the last two weeks or so has been the worst phase of their lives. Malik, a baker by profession and a resident of Tral, South Kashmir, was arrested on November 23rd last month over alleged militant connections in Jammu. But the family claims that their son is innocent and has in fact, been untraceable after the police picked him up.
Malik, 19, was arrested by the Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police from the Bathindi area of Jammu on November, 23, last month. After the arrest, contradictory reports were carried by newspapers, with some claiming that he was arrested from the house of former Sarpanch in Bathindi area while others claimed he was he arrested while boarding a minibus on the Kunjwani-Sidhra bypass in the Bathindi.
The mother of Malik, along with her two sons on Monday travelled 36 kms from Tral to Press enclave, Srinagar to get her voice heard. She claimed Malik’s innocence. “Days before his arrests, Shabir had called home and informed that Tral police had called him and was asking him to present himself at police station Tral. It is from that day he cell phone is switched off. Later we came to know that he was arrested by police in Jammu. He was just a hard-working baker in Nowgam, Srinagar.” Mukti Begum, mother of arrested youth told TwoCircles.net.
“My son has been missing since then and I don’t know why he was arrested and where the police have kept him,” she added
A Jammu-based newspaper, Kashmir Times, had reported on November 25 that weapon along with ammunition were recovered from Malik, further alleging his association with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). However, the Police department desisted from issuing any statement in this regard.
“During interrogation, Shabir Ahmed Malik disclosed that he had hidden weapons along with ammunitions at a hideout in the outskirts of Jammu. Acting upon his disclosure, the SOG raided the said hideout and recovered the same, adding that this weapon was smuggled from Kashmir valley to Jammu. Some militants were also scheduled to arrive here to carry out militant attack.” reported Kashmir Times.
Refuting the allegations, Malik’s mother said, “Last month, security forces had raided our house and inquired about Shabir’s whereabouts. As he was in Srinagar, they had picked up my other son who was released after two days. Later, we were told that Shabir has been arrested by police from Bathindi in Jammu. Initially they labelled him as Lashkar-e-Toiba cadre and claimed that he is affiliated with Hizbul Mujahedeen. We fail to understand how he reached Bathindi while he was working in Nowgam, Srinagar.”
The Police officials of Police station, Tral, said that he is not a militant according to police records. “There is no FIR related to militancy registered against him. We came to know about him last month after his family reported him as missing in police station,” a Police official told Twocircles.net.
Meanwhile, confirming the arrest of Shabir Ahmed Malik, Senior Superintendent of Police Jammu, Uttam Chand said that he is in police lock up, “I can’t tell you where he has been detained but he has accepted he worked for a militant organisation,” he told a Srinagar-based news agency CNS.
On the other hand, Malik’s family says that they are very concerned about his safety and wanted to meet him but their search for him in Jammu jails have turned futile as none from the security agency is coming forward to disclose as where he has been lodged.