Six weeks after a class 12 student, Shamima Akhter, was strangulated to death by local militants after she refused to marry Hizbul Mujahideen militant Manzoor Ahmad alias Furkan, the same group of militants attacked her house late Saturday evening in Manglogi village in Udhampur district killing four other members of her family in cold blood.After committing the gruesome murders, the suspected militants escaped without being challenged by the nearby security picket.
According to police, militants struck around 10.30 pm on Saturday night just when all the family members were preparing to go to sleep. Militants pumped more than one dozen bullets killing 55-year-old farmer Ahad Bhat, father of Shamima, his wife Fatima (50), daughter Mobina (25) and niece Shahida (30).
A senior police officer from Gool police station, who visited the spot, told The Pioneer over telephone that 12 empty cases of bullets were recovered from inside the house of Ahad Bhat. All four deceased had been shot in their abdomen and chest. The killings have unnerved the local people even though there is a security picket in the area.
Ramban Senior Superintendent of Police Basant K Rath told The Pioneer, "local militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen were annoyed with Ahad Bhat ever since he solemnised the court marriage of his youngest daughter with Farooq Ahmed, on September 18, 2006 against their wishes".
Three days after her marriage, Shamima was kidnapped and then killed on September 21 by local militants belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen when she was returning from Government Higher Secondary School, Sangaldhan.
Police recovered her body on September 24 from Surenda village in Gool. She had been strangled to avenge her refusal of the marriage proposal. "We are further investigating the reasons behind the provocation, and a police team is visiting the village," the SP added.
Security forces in the area have launched a massive search and cordon operations to nab the culprits. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the murders.