Thousands visit slain militants house

Srinagar: Thousands of people Friday visited the family of slain Hizb Commander Sameer Tiger who along with his associate Aqib Khan were killed in his native village Drabgam Pulwama.
Reports said that people from adjacent villages thronged at the house of Sameer Tiger and visited his grave yard to offer special prayers for him and other slain militants buried there.
Mourners carried out a procession and raised pro-freedom slogans.
Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, the father of Sameer Tiger said that he is thankful to the people for their support and love. He said Government Forces tried to barge into their house on Thursday night. The women folk present in the house were frightened, however, locals arrived at our house, forcing Forces to retreat from the house. The Forces had arrived to remove banners of my son that have been erected by local population. They couldn’t do so due to public outcry who played patriotic numbers in mosques and didn’t sleep whole night,” he said and lamented that even after the death of his son, Forces are still harassing the family.
Reports from Rajpora, the native place of another slain militant Aqib Mushtaq said that massive number of people thronged at his house and carried out a pro-freedom procession. People offered special prayers for him and expressed sympathies with the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, massive clashes rocked Pulwama town after Friday prayers. The clashes intensified during evening hours. Youth resorted to massive stone-pelting while Forces fired tear-smoke shells to disperse them. During evening hours, suspected militants lobbed a grenade on police station Pulwama while in retaliation, cops fired dozens of shots in air.
SSP Pulwama, Muhammad Aslam Chowdary said that after the grenade attack, a sentry fired some shots in air. “The area was cordoned off and a hunt was launched to nab the attackers,” he said.
The twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian meanwhile observed a complete shutdown to mark the Chahrum of two slain militants.