Months of Curfew And Violence Later, JK Govt Offers Compensation to Burhan Wani's Family

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has offered ex-gratia relief to the family of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, whose brother was killed under mysterious circumstances in April last year.

Sources said the Deputy Commissioner of Pulwama cleared 170 cases last week, announcing ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh or employment for the kin of those who have died under relevant clauses of the SRO-43.

The name of Khalid Muzaffar Wani, brother of Burhan Wani, also figures in the list.

Khalid, a Political Science student at Indira Gandhi National Open University, was killed under mysterious circumstances on April 13 when he had reportedly gone to meet his brother in a forested area.

"I lost my son. No compensation can bring him back. This has also proved that my son was innocent. There was no FIR against him. He was killed in cold blood. The government should order an inquiry and hold the guilty accountable," Muzaffar Wani, Khalid's father, told The Citizen.

Khalid, 25, was also accompanied by three more youths at the time of the killing. They were taken into custody by police later. At that time, the Army had alleged that Khalid was an 'over ground worker' for a militant outfit and that he was killed in exchange of gunfire with militants.

The Army had said: "Khalid is a listed over ground worker and he had taken his three friends to get them recruited with militants".

Sources in the government said Khalid's case was cleared because there was "no ground" to believe that Khalid was involved in any militant activity, "There was no case against him in any police station of the state. Besides, all 170 cases were cleared on the basis of merit," a senior government officer said.

The incident took place on April 13 last year when the body of Khalid was recovered from a forested area near his hometown Tral in south Kashmir. According to the family, there were no firearm injury marks on his body.

Khalid's father, Muzaffar Wani, a school principal, had at that time said that his son had gone missing in the evening of April 11 and he was "killed in custody".

"I looked at every inch of his body. There was no bullet mark. He was tortured. All his teeth had been damaged. His nose, forehead and skull were broken, perhaps by gun butts. His only fault was that he was brother of Burhan," he had said.

Asked about the compensation offer of the government, Muzaffar told The Citizen: "I have not yet thought about it. What will compensation do to me. Instead, the government should hold an inquiry and punish the culprits behind my son's murder," he said.