Admin orders magisterial probe into Shopian encounter

Srinagar, Jul 18: A magisterial probe has been ordered into the circumstances of the encounter in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir, earlier this month, in which one terrorist was killed, officials said.

The magisterial probe was ordered on Thursday by the Deputy Commissioner of Shopian, directing the Additional Deputy Commissioner to investigate the cause and circumstances leading to the death of the terrorist.

Officials said the enquiry officer asked the general public with any knowledge of the incident to submit their statements and evidence to him at his Shopian office on any working day within two weeks.

A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, Zakir Ganai, was killed in South Kashmir’s Shopian district following a relentless six-day operation. Ganai (26), a Category C terrorist and a resident of Motalhama in the adjoining Kulgam district, had been active since 2023.

He was injured in the initial gun battle with security forces on July 4, and his body was recovered on July 8. His body had bullet injuries in the left lung and on the leg; officials said he had been injured and crawled to a shed in the orchards.

According to officials, Ganai left his residence for Dialgam on September 27, 2023, to undertake shuttering work, but didn’t return home. After his family members were unable to trace him, they lodged a missing person report at the Kulgam police station on October 3, 2023.

Officials said Ganai subsequently joined The Resistance Front (TRF) terror outfit, an offshoot of LeT.

They said he was implicated in an FIR registered at Kulgam police station under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). (PTI)