NEW DELHI, In a significant development, respected media outlets within India are now contesting the claims made by the Modi regime concerning the killing of five alleged ‘infiltrators’ by its army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara on October 26.
According to Kashmir Media Service, The Telegraph, a notable English daily from Calcutta, has highlighted claims from residents of Sonat village in Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir. These residents assert that the five individuals could be their “innocent relatives” who had vanished on October 26.
The residents of the Neelum Valley village conveyed that the five men, rather than being militants, might have been their family members who ventured into the forests to gather herbs, thereby challenging the Indian army’s account of killing five Lashkar militants in the operation.
Following the October 26 incident, both the Indian army and police announced the elimination of militants in Operation Shikanja in the Machil sector of Kupwara during an extensive gunfight. However, as The Telegraph pointed out, videos from Sonat village residents suggest that these were the very men who had disappeared that day.
A particular video clip features Mohammad Idrees, a local political and social advocate, who is seen accompanied by the family members of the missing individuals. He explains that the community relies on the surrounding forests for sustenance. Idrees elaborated, “They had ventured into the forests to collect herbs and might have inadvertently crossed the LoC. When they failed to return by evening, their families reported them missing. The subsequent day, the Indian media announced the death of five terrorists.”
Emphasizing their innocence, Idrees remarked, “These are simple workers with no affiliations to jihadi factions. It’s possible they accidentally crossed the LoC or were apprehended by the Indian army and subsequently killed. We implore the authorities to release their remains to us for a dignified burial.”
An AJK journalist, Tariq Naqash of The Dawn, shared an image of the young son of Fayaz Ahamad, one of the disappeared men, on his social media platform.
The community recognized the five men as Muhammad Siddique, Sher Afzal, Fayaz Ahmed, Ghulam Rasool, and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Following the incident, high-ranking army and police officials, including Major General Girish Kalia of the 28 Infantry Division, convened a press conference in Kupwara to elaborate on the alleged firefight.