Policemen held for killing boy in 2010

It took five long years for the parents of slain Wamiq Farooq, a 12-year-old boy, to finally see the cops responsible for the killing of their son behind the bars on the directions of the court. On Tuesday, ASI Abdul Khaliq Sofi and constable Muhammad Akram of Jammu and Kashmir Police surrendered before the court of Forest Magistrate Bashir Ahmad Munshi, as the court had earlier issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against the accused cops for their involvement in the killing of Wamiq Farooq. The duo was sent to Central Jail.
On Thursday, the accused cops approached the court of Principal Sessions Judge, Srinagar for bail. However, the court extended their judicial custody till Monday, while asking the prosecution and the family of the victim to file their objections to the bail application of the accused cops.
In downtown Srinagar, parents of Wamiq Farooq are happy at the turn of events. Firdousa, the mother of Wamiq Farooq, told this newspaper that she now hopes that the accused cops would be given their due punishment. “First police refused to file an FIR against their own men. They started harassing us and even slapped threats through different channels in order to stop us from pursuing the case,” Firdousa alleged.
“We approached the court and it directed the police to file an FIR. After that the Omar Abdullah government approached us with a government job offer to one of our family members besides compensation in cash. But we turned it down,” she said.
Wamiq Farooq was killed on 31 January 2010 allegedly by the J&K Police  as they fired a tear-smoke shell on his head from a close range. This killing was instrumental in fanning unrest in the entire Kashmir valley in the summer of 2010, in which more than 128 boys were killed. Wamiq’s parents Farooq Ahmad and Firdousa Begum pursued the case, and in 2013 Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar issued arrest warrants against the accused cops. The government and the police challenged the order by filing a revision petition in Principal and Sessions Court and J&K High Court. However, both the courts upheld the order passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in 2013. The accused cops even approached the Supreme Court but their plea was rejected.