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| Police ‘solves’ Kupwara girl’s murder as per public sentiment | | Cellphone messages ignored, all evidences directed to soldier’s head | | AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
SRINAGAR, Sep 5: With all and sundry---from the separatist High Court Bar Association to Omar Abdullah’s National Conference-led coalition government---remaining either sentimentally or expediently pitted against the four Police personnel in the Shopian rape-cum-murder case in the last over three months, Police in Kupwara district have finally solved the matter of the murder of a 17-year old girl student strictly according to the public sentiment. Amina Masoodi daughter of late Ghulam Ahmed Masoodi of Muqam Dolipora, Trehgam, had died in mysterious circumstances during the night intervening July 8th and 9th this year when her family members and neighbours had alleged that a local soldier of Territorial Army had trespassed into her house, killed her and escaped towards his camp.
An official press release from Zonal Police Headquarters this evening said that Kupwara Police had solved Amina Masoodi’s murder and produced challan in a court of law. It said that Ms Masoodi’s death had invited “lot of media attention and public outrage”.
“The family members of deceased alleged that she has been murdered by one Ashiq Hussain Peer son of Noor-ud-Din Peer resident of Herri Payeen Kupwara who was working in 160 TA Army. The accused was known to the family of deceased and is related to them. On this case FIR No. 49/09 under section 302, 456, 120-B RPC was registered and investigation of the instant case was set into motion. Prime accused namely Ashiq Hussain Peer son of Noor-ud-Din resident of Herri Kupwara was arrested.
“During the course of investigation Police questioned the eye witnesses which confirmed the presence of accused Ashiq Hussain Peer son of Noor-ud-Din Peer resident of Herri Payeen Kupwara in the house of the complainant during the intervening night 8/9.07.09, besides confirmed the absence of accused from the Army camp of 160 Ta Bn, during the said night. Police Kupwara also recovered two cell phones bearing numbers 9797990180 & 9797226180 in the instant case. The SMS’s found in the “inbox” of cell No. 9797226180 send from cell No. 9797990180 further confirmed the presence of accused in the house of the complainant on the intervening night of 8/9.07.09.
“After thorough investigation and considering all the evidences viz. oral, documentary and circumstantial, offence under section 302, 458 RPC were made out against Ashiq Hussain Peer son of Noor-ud-Din Peer resident of Herri Payeen Kupwara of 160 Territorial Army and hence the charge sheet has been produced against the accused in the court of law”, said the Police press release.
With calls of shutdown against Ms Masoodi’s “murder and attempted rape by a soldier” in Kashmir valley, Kupwara had remained disturbed for four days as demonstrators had called for arrest and prosecution of the soldier named by the girl’s brothers.
Sources privy to the investigation, however, revealed to Early Times that taking dictations from the higher corridors of power, Police had evidently compromised professionalism and proceeded into the matter strictly in accordance with the public sentiment. According to them, it had become abundantly clear during the course of investigation that in addition to being a soldier with Territorial Army, Ashiq Hussain Peer was also one of the cousins of Ms Masoodi. They had also been classmates at a local school and developed intimate relationship. Sources said that during his custodial interrogation, Peer admitted that he had been visiting Ms Masoodi’s house by day and night for the last one year.
Even as Peer admitted during his interrogation that he had confidentially barged into the girl’s room, he denied to have killed her and pleaded that he had no reason to do away with his ‘beloved’. He claimed to have made good his escape when Masoodi’s brothers heard screams of a child and broke open the door of her room. His statement of having entered the house with the girl’s consent was corroborated by the call records of the two mobile phones seized by Police. Late night SMSs exchanged on phone numbers 9797990180 and 9797226180 between Peer and Ms Masoodi, hours before a child screamed and attracted the attention of the family members, established conclusively that there was an intimate liaison between the two.
Going by the public sentiment, the investigators claimed in the challan that Ms Masoodi had died of asphyxia and concluded without fingerprint evidence that she had been strangled to death by Peer. They analysed viscera and other tissues to ascertain cause of death but did not match finger prints on her throat with those of her brothers who were the other characters of suspicion after Peer. Even after the post mortem was assigned to a team of doctors of Government Medical College Srinagar’s Department of Forensic Science, medical examination of the girl was not conducted.
SP Kupwara, Uttam Chand, confirmed to Early Times that the SMSs exchanged between the duo had indicated intimate relationship. According to his confirmation, Peer had informed Ms Masoodi by text that he was outside in a bathroom of her house and she had called her in. He said since there was no evidence that her angry brothers had strangled Ms Masoodi to death or caused her death by asphyxia, investigators concluded that she had been left dead by none other than Peer.
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