Hurriyat leader was murdered, not killed by police, says media report

New Delhi, Aug 22 : Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who was believed to be killed in police firing during the ''Muzaffarabad chalo'' march by separatists on August 11, was not killed by a police or army bullet, according to a report in the Times of India. he daily reported that National Security Adviser M K Narayanan told the Union Cabinet on Thursday that it was not at all clear who had fired the fatal bullet at Aziz.

Narayanan reported to have said that investigations have established that the bullets which felled the separatist leader were not fired by security forces.

The NSA also pointed out that there were many rivalries at work in the Kashmir Valley.

The report further said the NSA was responding to a question by Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan, who pointed out that it was rather unusual for a leader to be killed in police action.

Typically, leaders in such situations are surrounded by workers and never directly exposed in an incident of the sort that took place as the marchers approached Uri. The leaders are whisked away with some help of the local cop always mindful of their stature at the first signs of tough action.

Aziz, a former Al-Jehad leader, was part of the march carried out by Kashmir Fruit Growers Association, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Traders Federation, both factions of Hurriyat Conference and the People''s Democratic Party (PDP) to neutralise the blockade of the Valley by the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti on the Srinagar-Muzzaffarabad highway with several fruit-laden trucks.

Defying curfew, the protesters had tried to take out a convoy towards Muzaffarabad. in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

ANI