No warning before firing, say victims

The two boys injured on Monday evening when army personnel fired on a vehicle in which they were travelling in, said on Wednesday they were not warned or asked to stop before opening of fire.

Two of their friends were killed in the firing incident while battling for their life in the Army’s 92-Base Hospital in Srinagar.

The injured Zahid Ayoub and Shakir Ahmad Bhat were travelling along with three other friends Faisal, Mehraj-ud-Din Dar and Basim when troops opened fire on the car which allegedly refused to stop at an Army checkpoint in Chattergam area of Budgam district. While Faisal and Mehraj were killed, Basim escaped unhurt.

Zahid was hit by a bullet in his right leg and Shakir was hit in his shoulder. The duo told reporters on Wednesday that they were travelling home when the incident took place. “We were moving at a fast speed when armymen directed us to stop,” Zahid, a class 9 student said. He added that he was the only one among the five who noticed it.

“I told Faisal who was driving the car that the Army is directing us to stop and as he looked backward towards me in the process, our car brushed a tipper on the right side. But we were unhurt,” he said and added as the car slowed down, three army men without uttering a word fired on them.

“After firing on us, soldiers came closer to our car and said ‘surrender your weapons’. In utter pain, we told them we don’t have weapons and they searched the car,” he said.

Another injured boy Shakir, an 11th class student, said he doesn’t remember whether the Army asked them to stop or not as their car brushed the tripper which diverted his attention. “But yes I remember that troops suddenly fired on us and we started shouting,” he said. “As firing stopped, I could see Faisal and Mehraj had lost conscious. It was a nightmare,” Shakir added.