india

Updated: May 09, 2019 11:50 IST

The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested a murder suspect who had been absconding for 23 years.

The suspect, Wali Mohammad Mir, was allegedly involved in the murder of seven people from four families, including two women, on October 5, 1996 in Sadrakoot area of Bandipora. “The accused, Wali Mohammad Mir, had been evading arrest for the last 23 years. He was arrested from village Barwala Kangan,” said Rahul Malik, Bandipora senior superintendent of police.

The JK Coalition of Civil Society, a non-government organisation, claimed Mir and the main accused, Rashid Billa, worked with security forces during counter-insurgency operations in the 1990s. Rights groups have alleged a number of extra-judicial killings in the state during this period.

JKCCS programme coordinator Khuram Parvez said Mir’s arrest was a welcome development but wanted police to make efforts to apprehend the third suspect, who is still at large.

In April 2017, Billa was killed after suspected militants barged into his home and opened fire.

Mir was arrested after the police, acting on a tip-off, raided a specified location at Barwala village of Kangan. “The accused [Mir] is involved in the murder of seven persons and injuring other five persons. Several warrants were issued, but the accused was hiding,” the SSP said.