Hurriyat to take up killing of two fidayeen with AI, Asia watch

Srinagar, June 16 (UNI) The breakaway Hurriyat Conference (HC) today decided to take with the Amnesty International and Asia Watch, the killing of two Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants by Jammu and Kashmir police yesterday.

HC spokesman Aiyaz Akbar challenged the police claim that two persons, who were killed by police in an encounter at Nowgam early yesterday morning were ''fidayeen.'' He said according to local residents, the two were brought at Nowgam with their hands tied with a rope and later shot dead.

Describing the killing as ''murder'', he said no law on earth allows police to kill anyone without producing him before a court of law and demanded independent inquiry into these killings by police.

The spokesman said despite assurance and claims by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, custodial killings in Kashmir were going on.

He said the HC will take up the issue of AI and Asia Watch.

Police yesterday claimed to have foiled a 'fidayeen (suicide)' attack by killing two Pakistani militants of the banned Lashkar-e- Toiba (LeT) outfit on the city outskirts.

However, several local newspapers and news agencies carried reports suggesting that the two Pakistani militants were arrested few hours before they were to execute a suicide attack on an under- construction complex of the Institute of Hotel Management at Raj Bagh here at the time of the visit of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni to the building last evening.

The reports said the two militants were arrested from posh Raj Bagh locality last evening. During sustained interrogation, the two Lashkar militants revealed that they had been tasked to carry out a suicide attack on the Chief Minister and the Union Tourism Minister.

UNI