Kashmir: Militants release all 11 abducted kin of police personnel

All the 11 relatives of policemen kidnapped by the militants from various places in South Kashmir have been released by the militants, according to police.

They were reportedly abducted from villages in the Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian and Anantnag districts of South Kashmir on Thursday night and Friday morning, amid allegations that security forces set fire to the homes of militant leaders during night raids.

They were abducted in an apparent retaliation to police detention of the family members of at least three Hizbul Mujahideen men.

Earlier on Thursday, the National Investigation Agency arrested Syed Shakeel Yousuf, one of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s sons in Srinagar in connection with a terror funding case. Yousaf, accused in a 2011 case of terror funding, was arrested after a raid at the city's Rambagh area. He is a laboratory technician at a prestigious government hospital, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences.

State police chief SP Vaid confirmed to the media that the 11 relatives of policemen had been released and were back home.

Reacting to the development, senior journalist Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal wrote on Facebook: “Better sense prevails as militants release all 11 relatives of cops. The police have also released the detained father of a militant. It is hoped that neither side drags civilians into combats by persecuting them in various ways. That goes for also the excessive use of pellets and bullets on civilians. One also hopes for the political dispensation to wake up and be magnanimous enough to initiate a dialogue.”

“The fact that 11 abducted people were released by militants shows there is still enough space for dialogue. One only needs to be imaginative,” she further said, asserting that “results of dialogue take years of consistent talking and negotiating to become fruitful.”

Earlier, IANS reported that even when the security forces were working their strategy to recover the hostages safely, a statement purportedly issued by Hizbul operational commander Riyaz Naikoo, on the social media said that henceforth the militants would follow "an eye for an eye policy".

"Police has compelled us to follow the course of an eye for an eye and an ear for an ear. Policemen are advised in their own interest to give up their jobs or be prepared to face the worst," Naikoo, whose father was arrested by police two days back, said, according to the news agency.