Young Kashmiri army officer shot dead while home on leave

Ajay Banerjee and Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Srinagar, May 10 

Militants kidnapped a lieutenant in the army, who was on leave and was unarmed, from his uncle’s house in Shopian district on Tuesday night and later killed him, the Army said on Wednesday.

Lt Umar Fayaz Parray, 23, of Sursuna-Yaripora village in Kulgam was kidnapped around 10 pm by militants, believed to be five in number, from the house of his maternal uncle at Shopian, 60 km from here.

Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said, “In a dastardly act, militants on Tuesday night kidnapped and killed a young unarmed army officer who had come on leave to his native place in Kulgam to attend a marriage in the family.”

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Parray’s body that bore two bullet marks was recovered from Hermain Chowk in Shopian on Wednesday morning, a Shopian police officer said.

He said Parray, who was commissioned as lieutenant on December 10, 2016, and was posted at the Army’s 2 Rajputana Rifles at Akhnoor, had arrived at his house last week to attend the marriage of his cousin at Batapura village in Shopian district.

He is survived by parents and two sisters. His father runs a fruit business.

The post-mortem of the body is being conducted at the district hospital, Shopian, and the body will be brought to his native village for burial with full military honours.

The deceased officer was scheduled to attend the Young Officers’ Course in September, the Army said.

“The Army salutes the braveheart and stands by the family. It commits itself to bringing the perpetrators of the heinous act to justice,” the Army spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley called the killing an “act of cowardice”, adding that the sacrifice reiterated the nation’s commitment to eliminate terrorism.

“Abduction and murder of Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz by terrorists in Shopian is a dastardly act of cowardice. This young officer from Jammu and Kashmir was a role model,” Jaitley said in a tweet. With IANS