The three men’s families have claimed that photographs of the dead “militants” resemble their sons. Both the army and the police have said that they are investigating the matter.

Speaking to The Wire on the phone from Rajouri, Yosouf said his shock and grief over losing his son is greater because of his family’s services to the army and security forces.

“My brother Madad Hussain retired as an honorary captain. My other brother Muhammad Bashir, who retired as havaldar, fought in the Kargil war as he was deployed with the army’s 12 JAKLI there. Four of my nephews are working in the army and paramilitary CRPF,” he says.

Yosouf is convinced that the three young men were innocent. “If at all they had any suspicions that our children were on the wrong path, they could have told us. I would have handed them over to the army myself and said slaughter them,” he says.

Also read: ‘They Were Poor Men’: Locals Question Army Version on Shopian ‘Encounter’

Yosouf and his wife Malika Jan were not home when their son left for Shopian on July 16.

“We were in a dhok (temporary hut) in the Khandeli mountains when my daughter-in-law, Shahreen Akther, sent me a message through a local named Yaqoob that she has not been able to contact her husband over the phone for the past 22 days. On hearing this, I got worried and came back,” he says.

Like other Gujjars and Bakharwals, Yosouf and his family travel with their cattle to the upper reaches of the Pir Panchal mountains every summer.

“When I got back, my daughter-in-law told me that she spoke to her husband for the last time on July 17 at around 8:30 pm, after which his phone had been disconnected,” says Yosouf. He lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Peeri police post on August 9, and at the Kotrenka police post on August 10.

On August 10, he says somebody sent him photographs via WhatsApp of the three “militants” killed in Amshipora by the army on July 18.

“I was devastated when I recognised that one of them is my sister-in-law’s son, whose name is also Ibrar. The first thing I did was to send Shahreen, my daughter Shabnam and son Shakoor Ahmad to the dhok, so that they would not find out about the tragedy. I pretended that their mobile phones needed to be charged and took them away, so that they wouldn’t see the news,” he says.

“I just cannot muster the courage tell my daughter-in-law that she is a widow and that her husband has been killed. I am afraid that she will not be able to bear this painful news.” Ibrar and Shahreen were married in 2016, and have a son.

Yosouf says his 15-month-old grandson, who barely speaks, mutters ‘janu‘ (what he used to call his father Ibrar) and ‘toffee’ at regular intervals. “Maybe he thinks that his father has gone to buy toffees for him,” he says, his voice choking.

“I am a poor man. Despite that, my son’s wedding was a big event. I arranged a feast for 300 people with my meagre savings,” Yosouf says.

According to him, Ibrar was hardworking and stopped studying to support his family financially.

“He went to Kuwait and worked as labourer for three-and-a-half years there. He returned from Kuwait seven-eight months ago and was living with the family since then,” he says, adding that his son constructed a separate concrete house for himself with his hard-earned money.

Yosouf says his son left for Shopian on July 16, to earn some money to complete unfinished work on his newly-constructed house.

“Due to the pandemic, he could not return to Kuwait and wanted to work in Kashmir for some time before going back to the Gulf,” he says.

Also read: Vikas Dubey’s Killing Reminds Punjab of 2,000+ ‘Disappearances’ During Insurgency

Yosouf says he should be given his son’s body, so that he can give him a decent burial.

“I am pleading with the authorities here for the past three days to give me permission to visit Shopian. But I am being told that the officers are busy. I appeal to the authorities – you cannot get my son back, you have killed him. But please give me his body.”

Yosouf says that he has firm faith that God will punish those who killed his son and two other relatives. “What they did they to my child, Allah will do same with them,” he says.

DNA samples to be tested

Inspector general of police, Kashmir Vijay Kumar said on Thursday that DNA samples have been taken from the slain “terrorists”, and they will be sent to a Central laboratory to “ascertain the facts”. There are two parts to the police team’s investigation in Rajouri, he added. “One is matching DNA samples and another is to investigate whether these three persons who had come from Rajouri were in contact with local militants are not. We will examine all the technical evidence that we have.”

On Thursday evening, Yousuf confirmed that he and other family members are giving their DNA samples to doctors in Rajouri.

Umer Maqbool is freelance journalist based in Kashmir. He can be contacted at [email protected].