“If Nadeem really was an informer, this punishment is less for him” says Father

SRINAGAR: On Thursday evening, when Manzoor Ahmad Bhat came to know that four armed men were looking for his 17-year-old son, he said he was “happy” and assumed that they would teach him a “lesson”.

According to reports published in Indian express, “My son was a drug addict. I thought they were looking for him to give him a warning (for taking drugs), which might force him to stop,” the 50-year-old baker in Shopian district’s Safanagri village said.

Bhat was wrong. His 17-year-old son Nadeem Manzoor was abducted from their village and later killed. His body was found in a nearby village in Pulwama district.

There has been a spate of civilian abductions since Thursday evening in south Kashmir. Eight youth were abducted, of which two were killed and the others released. On Sunday, police officials said one youth was abducted in the morning from Shopian’s Memender area, and was later released.

The family said that if Nadeem really was an informer, then “this punishment is less for him”.

“He (Nadeem) then deserves a much bigger punishment. But if he was innocent, then it is between god and those who killed my son,” Manzoor told The Indian Express on Sunday.

“His (Nadeem’s) act has brought disrespect to our family. We appeal to everyone in Kashmir, including militant groups, to forgive us for his act,” said his uncle, Abdul Hamid Bhat.

“We don’t know if he was truthful or he made that statement under any pressure,” said another uncle.

Sartaj Ahmad Bhat, Nadeem’s elder brother, said he appeared indifferent to the fact that armed men were looking for him.

“I asked him whether he was involved in any controversial thing… I even said he could leave for Jammu till the matter gets sorted out. But he was not scared… He told me that he would go to meet them because he was not involved in anything other than taking drugs,” Sartaj said.