SRINAGAR, Aug 14: The master file related to the 1995 abduction of six foreigners by Al-Faran militant outfit was gutted in arson during the summer unrest of 2010, the state police has informed the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
“The master file retained in the office of SSP Crime has been reduced to ashes during the fire on September 11, 2010,” the SHRC observed in its order after a hearing on Monday .
On July 4, 1995, Americans Donald Hutchings and John Childs, as well as Britons Paul Wells and Keith Mangan were kidnapped by the little known Al-Faran militant group while trekking in the Himalayas near Pahalgam, 97 km (60 miles) southeast of Srinagar.
Four days later, Childs escaped. On the same day, the captors abducted German Dirk Hasert and Norwegian Hans Christian Ostroe. Ostroe was found beheaded in August 1995. The others were never found.
Only months ago, authors Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark created a flutter with their new book ‘The Meadow, Kashmir 1995 – Where the terror began’ which blamed Indian security agencies for the tourists’ killing.
Rights groups Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and International Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights in Kashmir (IPTK) had filed an application before the Commission seeking re-investigation into the case following which on April 17, the commission had sought response from four police officers, including former IGP (Kashmir) PS Gill.
The fresh disclosure could further strenghthen the writers’ contention among human rights activists.
The office, where the file was kept, was gutted in a mysterious fire in 2010 on the occasion of Eid when moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq led a procession from old city to Lal Chowk which turned violent.
In the ensuing clashes, a building housing the office caught fire. The police blamed miscreants for the incident.
Meanwhile, the SHRC has issued notices to Gill and senior superintendent of police Ashkoor Wani in the kidnapping case.
The SHRC has also asked the deputy commissioner Anantnag to file his report in the case and its closure, if filed by the security forces and the case has been listed for September 18 for further proceedings.
