'Why did they kill my father?' asks 12-year-old son of Kashmir cop

The families of the three policemen abducted and killed by suspected militants in Kashmir’s Shopian on Friday are yet to come to terms with their loss.

The 12-year-old son of Special Police Officer (SPO) Kulwant Singh was at home when the suspected militants took his father away even as his grandmother pleaded with them to spare the 35-year-old cop. While his mother was away at Jammu. Singh’s mother Pushpa Devi says the family was informed of Singh’s murder barely half-an-hour later.

“Why did they kill my innocent father? He hadn’t done any wrong,” says Yudhveer, Singh’s son.

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“My son told me he was not working with police anymore. He was running a shop in Kulgam. If I had known he was with the police, I would have told him to announce his resignation. Who will look after the family now?” laments Pushpa Devi.

The policemen were dragged out of their homes three days after Hizbul Mujahideen militants put out a video threatening to kill policemen unless they posted their resignations online. Their bullet-ridden bodies were found in an orchard on Friday.

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The family of constable Nasir Ahmad had issued a public appeal to militants requesting his release and pledged to ensure his resignation from the police force. But, that failed to move the militants. Soon after the kidnapping, the family made a public appeal that Nisar will resign after Friday prayers. Ahmad is survived by his parents, wife and two children.

Firdous Ahmad Kuchey was posted at Kakapora railway station as a follower. Fatima says her son came home on Thursday to announce his resignation at the mosque on Friday. “He was working in a railway station. How was he a threat to anyone?” Fatima adds. Kuchey is survived by his parents, wife, two children and three brothers. He joined the police force five years ago.

After the murder of the three policemen, a number of videos surfaced on social media where at least six policemen are seen announcing their resignations. 

However, the home ministry said that no policeman has resigned in Jammu and Kashmir and described such reports as “false propaganda” by “mischievous” elements.

The home ministry in a statement said reports have appeared in a section of the media that some special police officers (SPOs) in Jammu and Kashmir have resigned, but the state police has confirmed that these reports are “untrue and motivated”. “These reports are based on false propaganda by mischievous elements,” it said.