Tucked at the far end of Sugan village in Kashmir Valley’s Shopian district, the double-storied home of Ghulam Hassan received a pleasant surprise on the morning of Friday, 11 January. Zeenat-ul-Islam, his son and chief of Al-Badr militant outfit, had come to meet the family, especially his four-year-old daughter.

“He met everyone and asked us to pray for him. Before leaving, he gave a Rs 500 note to his daughter and kissed her forehead. Little did we know that it was going to be their last meeting,” Ghulam Hassan, Zeenat’s father, said.