Accused army man has admitted meeting missing Kupwara trio: Police
Judicial remand of arrested trooper extended till Dec 19
The remand of Territorial Army (TA) man, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in disappearance of three residents of Kupwara, has been extended till December 19 while police said the accused trooper has admitted his meeting with the trio, who went missing since November 17.The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Kupwara Iqbal Massodi today extended police remand of the accused trooper, Manzoor Ahmad Khawaja till December 19 (Saturday).
During the hearing, counsel of the complainants Advocate Bilal Malik informed the court about the uncertainty prevailing in the native villages of the missing people regarding their abduction.
He argued that the families were in distress and want to know whether their bread earners are alive or dead.
The court directed police to ascertain the angle that mobile phones of missing trio and the accused went off on the same date.
It also directed police to visit the actual spots to cross check if the accused was really in Keran and ascertain if the missing persons were accompanying him.
Asked why his phone was inaccessible for six days after the trio went missing, the accused is believed to have told his interrogators that he was in telephonically inaccessible Keran area of Kupwara.
The accused TA trooper was arrested on Tuesday last on the complaint lodged by the relatives of Ghulam Jeelani Khatana (52) of Sajan Nari Dardpora Kralpora, Mir Hussain Khatan (55) of Gujran Dardpora Kralpora and Ali Mohammad Sheikh (40) of Checkpora Trehgam.
They had alleged that Manzoor had called Ghulam Jeelani and Mir Hussain to Kralpora on November 17 and since then their whereabouts are not known.
Accordingly, a case of abduction under section 364 of RPC was registered at police station Kralpora. On 29th November, police station Trehgam filed a missing report regarding Ali Mohammad who had also gone missing since November 17.
Meanwhile, DIG Police North Kashmir Range Gareeb Das said the accused has confessed before the police that he had met the trio.
“The, accused, however, has been claiming that after meeting them, he doesn’t know where they left for. There is a tangible progress in the case and all efforts are on to trace the missing persons,” he said.
Das said the allegations leveled by the family members that the missing persons had gone with the accused Manzoor is true as the accused has confirmed this.
“However, at the same time Manzoor is claiming that he doesn’t know where they went after meeting them,” he said and added a team has already been constituted to trace the missing persons. (Additional inputs from CNS)
