'Drug peddler' killed in Jammu crossfire, kin cry foul

JAMMU: A suspected drug peddler was killed in an exchange of fire between cops and alleged narcotics smugglers in Sure Chak area in Jammu’s Satwari locality on Thursday. Terming the police operation a “fake encounter”, his kin staged a protest outside Jammu GMCH that night.

J&K Police Friday suspended two personnel of the District Special Branch , Jammu, and ordered a departmental inquiry against the duo. An SIT — headed by a DySP-rank officer — has been formed to probe into the family’s allegations.

This came hours after J&K CM Omar Abdullah, NC MP Mian Altaf, and PDP president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti demanded a time-bound investigation. Calling the death “deeply regrettable”, Omar had posted on X: “Use of force by the police has to be calibrated & cannot be indiscriminate. J&K has paid a heavy price in the past because of incidents such as these.”

Late Thursday, a police team was chasing alleged drug smugglers when the suspects allegedly began firing at the cops, triggering a gunfight. In the ensuing crossfire, one of the suspects, identified as Parvez Ahmed, was injured and later succumbed, a police spokesperson said.

While the autopsy was underway at Jammu GMCH, a large crowd — including his family — gathered at the facility and launched a protest outside the mortuary demanding a probe, while claiming that the deceased was innocent. Senior police officers rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators, assuring that an investigation was underway. Additional troops were deployed to prevent the protest from escalating, the spokesperson said, adding that the situation was brought under control later in the night.

Parvez’s body was handed over to his family on Friday, and his last rites were performed at his native place.

In an X post, Mehbooba said that Parvez was being “labelled” as a drug dealer, and even if that is the case, “we live in a democratic country where justice is served through (the) rule of law as opposed to khap panchayats or kangaroo courts”. Seeking a time-bound, impartial probe, she added: “We must not descend or condone a culture of extrajudicial encounters because that’s precisely what alienates people.”