Tens of thousands attend LeT militant’s funeral prayers in Kulgam village

Kulgam: Tens of thousands of mourners Monday offered back to back 15 funeral prayers for slain Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Shakoor Ahmed Dar. Shakoor along with his non-local associate were killed in Chiddar village of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. He was the resident of Soput Kulgam.
Reports said sea of people thronged at his native village to offer tributes to him. The mourners who participated in his funeral procession raised pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Militants offered gun salute to him by firing a couple of rounds in air.
Shakoor was a cleric and a ‘Hafiz’ (one who memorizes holy Quarn). He used to lead prayers at Jamia Masjid and Eidgah Masjid Soput. Shakoor according to his family went missing on September 30, 2016. A couple of days later, his photograph along with an assault rifle went viral and police came to know he has joined militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
His two brothers Khurshid Ahmed Dar and Sartaj Ahmed Dar were in police custody when Showkat was killed in the gunfight.
Khurshid who is a cancer patient was arrested six months before at Kund Kulgam when police claimed that a pistol was recovered from his possession. He is currently lodged at Joint Interrogation Centre Kehribal Mattan. Family members said that Khurshid was not allowed to participate in the funeral prayers of his brother Shakoor Ahmed Dar.
Sartaj Ahmed Dar, another brother of Shakoor is also in police custody. Family members said that he has been released for four days and yet again he has to present himself before the police.