Govt says Hurriyat leader Aziz not killed by police

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The government Saturday
insisted that senior Hurriyat leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz was not
killed in police firing during a protest march in Kashmir,
rejecting allegations in this regard made by some sections in
the state.


National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said the
Hurriyat Conference was aware that police did not kill Aziz
but it would "never admit" it.

"The fact of the matter is... it was certainly not the
police. He (Aziz) was shot in the back," Narayanan said in
Karan Thapar's 'Devil's Advocate' programme on C.N.N.-I.B.N.
when asked about the killing of the Hurriyat leader.

Justifying his argument, he said Aziz was shot in the
back while police was in the front when the incident occurred
in Baramulla during the Hurriyat-led 'March to Muzaffarabad'
on August 11 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, the Hurriyat had alleged that Aziz was
killed in police firing.

The National Security Adviser said the facts could
have been "much clearer" if police had been able to conduct a
postmortem on the body.

"They took the body away before there was a chance for
postmortem. Then the fact would have been much clearer,"
Narayanan said.

Claiming that Hurriyat knew that police was not
responsible for killing Aziz, he claimed that there was
"concern" among the Hurriyat leaders as to who was out to kill
them.


"This is a concern even among the Hurriyat and others
saying that who is now amongst us who is trying to eliminate
some of us," the National Security Adviser said.

Asked specifically whether Hurriyat knows that police
did not kill him, Narayanan said "yeah, they will never admit
it I suppose, but the fact of the matter is that it was
certainly not the police. He was shot in the back."

Asked who could be behind the killing of the Hurriyat
leader, he said "You will know at the right time, I presume
and assure, of who it is or which group is responsible."

When asked whether he was pointing fingers at Pakistan
for Aziz's killing, Narayanan said the government does not
have any facts in this regard.

"No, we have no fact at the moment about A or B or C.
What we are clear at this moment is that it was not the
police... there are lot of things, circumstances.... The fact
of the matter is that he was not a martyr to the cause that is
being made out to be."