AGH militant, Hurriyat activist shot dead in Kashmir

A student-turned- militant and an activist of Hurriyat Conference were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar and Baramulla district of Kashmir respectively on Saturday.

Reports said unidentified gunmen shot dead Asif Nazir Dar, son of a top Central government employee, in Hazratbal area of Srinagar on Saturday afternoon. Dar, according to reports, had gone missing from his home in south Kashmir’s Pulwama area over a year ago and allegedly joined militant outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH).

Sources said that Asif had earlier joined Hizbul-Mujahideen and later on switched to Zakir Musa led AGH. He was a student of Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Awantipora before joining militant ranks.

The AGH is led by militant commander Zakir Rashid alias Zakir Mosa, who came to prominence last year in May when he threatened separatist leaders that they would be killed if they continue to call the Kashmir struggle as political rather than Islamic, and “hinder the way of mujahideen.”

Senior Superintend Police (SSP) Srinagar, Imtiyaz Ismail Parray said a pistol and two magazines were recovered from Asif.

Earlier in the day unidentified gunmen fired upon Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani, associated with hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani, outside his home in Reshipora, Bomai, Sopore in Baramulla.

He was immediately shifted to Sopore hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Sultani, reports said, was recently released from jail.