LeT, United Jehad Council condemn Sopore murders
By IANSThursday, February 3, 2011
SRINAGAR - Guerrilla outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has denied involvement in the murder of two teenaged sisters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore town, days after police blamed it for the killings. The incident was also condemned by the United Jehad Council (UJC).
In a statement to a local news agency Wednesday evening, LeT spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said his group condemned the killings and shared the grief with the bereaved family. “It is the handiwork of government agencies,” the spokesman said.
The two sisters, Kulsooma and Yasmin, were killed Monday evening after they were forced out of their homes at gunpoint in Muslim Peer locality of north Kashmir’s Sopore town.
Police here said the two sisters had been murdered by LeT and two of the assassins had already been identified.
“We will soon bring the culprits to justice,” Altaf Khan, superintendent of police (Sopore), told reporters immediately after the incident.
UJC, a conglomerate of guerrilla groups based in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan administered Kashmir, has also denied any guerrilla hand in the killings and demanded an impartial probe.
In a statement faxed to a local news agency, UJC spokesman, Syed Sadakat Hussain, quoted UJC chairman and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) supreme commander Syed Salahuddin as saying: “The killings are a barbaric act and such incidents are against the teachings of Islam and no militant organization can indulge in such an act.”
The UJC chief said those responsible should be given exemplary punishment.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had dared separatists on the twin murders in a post on Twitter, saying it was a shame that the separatists did not have the cheek to condemn such incidents.
