Placed under house arrest, says Mehbooba Mufti

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said she was prevented from moving out of her residence on the Gupkar road in Srinagar for going to South Kashmir's Pulwama district to meet the family of Athar Mushtaq, killed in encounter with the security forces, on the outskirts of Srinagar on December 30, 2020.

In a video tweeted by Mufti, she is seen arguing with a security officer at the gate of her residence asking reasons for stopping her from moving out.

"Placed under house arrest as usual for trying to visit family of Athar Mushtaq, killed allegedly in a fake encounter. His father was booked under UAPA for demanding his dead body. This is normalcy GOI wants to showcase to the EU delegation visiting Kashmir," Mufti tweeted.

"This reign of suppression and terror in Kashmir is the unvarnished and unpalatable truth that GOI wants to hide from the rest of the country. A 16 year old is killed & then hurriedly buried denying his family the right and chance to perform his last rites."

Three persons, Aejaz Ganai from Pulwama, Zubair Lone from Shopian and Athar Mushtaq from Pulwama were killed in an encounter at Lawaypora in Srinagar. The Army said they were repeatedly given a chance to surrender which they did not do and instead fired at the security forces and threw grenades.

The families of those killed have been contesting the version of security forces, claiming that their sons are not militants. They have been demanding that the bodies of the deceased be returned.