Anantnag: A minor girl, the granddaughter of one of the victims of the Pathribal fake encounter, has gone missing from near her home in Brari Aangan area of Utterasoo, here in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The girl has been identified as 15-year-old Shahnaza Akhtar, daughter of Rasheed Khan. Khan is the son of Jumma Khan, one of the five men who were killed in a fake encounter in Pathribal in 2000 by government forces, days after the Chattisingpora massacre.
Rasheed Khan has since been on the forefront of the fight for justice in the case.
Khan told Kashmir Reader that his daughter left home on September 25, at about 11:00 AM, and has not been since since. “I don’t know where to look for her and what to do,” he said.
“She did not have a mobile phone and she is too young to fall into any other trap. I believe she has been kidnapped and either killed or sent somewhere out of the state,” Khan said. “I have been fighting a battle for justice for the last twenty years without any luck and now my daughter has gone missing. I don’t know if I can stop myself this time around from taking an extreme step,” he said.
He said that a local had been calling him and assuring him that his daughter will be brought back with the help of a “god man”.
“He went missing after the phone call and after a hunt I managed to track him down in a nearby jungle. He was questioned by the police but was released later,” Khan said.
A senior police officer from the area said that an FIR has been lodged in the case under Section 363 (kidnapping). “She has not gone to school and there are no documents to prove she is a minor. We are, however, taking the word of the family on her age and therefore have lodged a case under 363,” he said.
The officer said that there have been almost no leads in the case as yet. “However, efforts are on to track the girl,” he said.

Suhail A Shah