Srinagar, Dec 13 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family of slain militant Burhan Wani for his brother's mysterious killing in April last year.
However, his father Muzaffar Wani, a school teacher, refused to accept the compensation, alleging that his elder son, Khalid, was killed by security forces in "cold blood".
Pulwama District Deputy Commissioner Muneer ul Islam in a notification on Monday ordered the monetary relief for the next of kin of those persons who died or suffered injuries in militancy-related incidents.
Compensation was ordered for at least 17 families of the south Kashmir district. The Wanis figure at the serial number 9 on the notification, offering them either Rs 4 lakh as compensation or a government job.
Khalid, 25, who was studying economics at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, was killed on April 14 when he had allegedly gone to meet his brother Burhan, hiding in a forested area of Tral, some 40 km from here.
The state police had alleged that Khalid was an over-ground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit. They said he and three of his friends were stopped by security forces on their way to the forest to meet Burhan. But they didn't, triggering a shootout in which Khalid and one of his associates were killed.
The family alleged that Khalid's body bore torture marks and accused the security forces of killing him in custody.
His father said there was not even a single bullet mark on Khalid's body and all his teeth had been damaged with a "broken nose and skull".
The senior Wani told the media on Tuesday that "no compensation can bring" his son back.
He said the compensation "proved that my son was innocent", and sought a probe by the government to "hold the guilty accountable".
His younger son Burhan Wani was killed by security forces in July this year that triggered a wave of new unrest in the Kashmir Valley, in which nearly 100 people died in the months of street protests.
The compensation list also includes Shabir Ahmad Mangoo, a contractual lecturer who died when he was allegedly beaten up by security forces at Khrew in Pulwama district on August 17 this year when the valley was on the boil.
Residents alleged that Mangoo was killed after being taken away by the army following a house to house search for the youths who were leading violent protests in the area.
