Kashmir: Militants behead youth after kidnapping him

The headless body of a youth who was abducted by militants earlier this week, was recovered on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said. The body of 25-year old Manzoor Ahmad Bhat was found in an orchard near his home in Hajin area.

Police sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants had abducted the slain youth and his father, Abdul Gafar Bhat from Hajin area on Wednesday. The father, however, had managed to escape the same day despite bullet injuries. He is currently being treated at Srinagar hospital. Exhibiting its brand of brutality, the terrorists have left the body headless, police said.

Earlier this week, militants had abducted and killed another youth in Hajin, which was once a strong counter-insurgency centre in Kashmir and is now emerging as a hub of terror.

A local operative of the Pakistan based terror group, Mohammad Saleem Parray, is believed to be behind the beheading and a series of other civilian killings in the area, according to reports in local media.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has condemned the killing, saying that the scourge of terrorism has hit a new low in the state.

Reacting to the incident, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the silence over brutal killing by militants: “What happens to ‘Kashmir Solidarity’ and wanna be Imran Khans when people like Manzoor are inhumanly butchered? It’s so easy to flow with the tide, much tougher to swim against it.”

“Since when does beheading Kashmiris, means a ‘Peaceful Freedom Struggle’. This is Terrorism. Terrorism. And Terrorism. Whether ISIS is present in Kashmir or not, their tactics are certainly present. No Hartal, Hajin Chalo, Stone-pelting against this killing? Of course not. His killers are different. Hypocrites!” Junaid Qureshi, a native and human rights activist, posted on Facebook.