10 injured during clashes at Al-Badr militant’s funeral

At least ten persons were injured in clashes and protests which erupted in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district during the funeral prayers of Al-Badr commander Zeenat-ul-Islam at his native Sugan village on Sunday.

Reports said security forces had sealed all roads leading to Sugan village to limit the number of people participating in the funeral of Zeenat, who was killed in an encounter with the army along with his associate Shakeel Dar in Yaripora area of Kulgam late Saturday evening.

However, they said, mourners continued to assemble in the village after making their way through orchards. Soon after the forces resorted to aerial firing to disperse the people, an eye witness said, the youth pelted them with stones, triggering clashes.

They said that forces fired live ammunition and pellets at the protesters, resulting in injuries to at least ten civilians. Despite that, multiple rounds of funeral prayers were held for him and his associate, reports added.

Zeenat, 30, alias Usman hailing from Sugan village of restive Zainapora in Shopian district was listed in police records as category A++ militant and carried a bounty of Rs 12.5 lakh on his head. He was a ‘known cordon breaker’ and had on several occasions gave forces a slip during search operations.

Zeenat, according to police records, got affiliated with Al-Badr in 2006 and was later arrested. However, after he was released, he again got recycled in 2016 and subsequently got affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and recently he joined Al-Badr outfit, said a police spokesman.

Considered as an expert with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), he had married before joining militancy and has a three-year-old daughter. He was Bachelor of Arts (B.A) from a local college.