Hurriyat leader’s statement proves our point: police

JAMMU - Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Bhat’s admission that militants and not Indian security forces were to blame for the killing of top separatist leaders vindicates the police stand, the Jammu and Kashmir police chief said Monday.

“Bhat has said what we have been saying all along,” Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda told the media while commenting on the remarks of the former All Parties Hurriyat Conference chief.

Bhat told a seminar in Srinagar Sunday that the assassinations of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq, father of moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Peoples Conference chairman Abdul Ghani Lone were caused by militant rivalry and that the security forces had no hand in them.

The statement stunned the audience, among whom were several separatist leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Khoda said the police had always maintained that militants were killing leaders of rival factions.

“Now, when a separatist leader himself makes this disclosure, all I can say is that our stand has been vindicated,” he added.