Lifer to 3 for cold blooded murder of Hyderpora butcher

Anantnag, July 23: A local court on Wednesday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the 2017 abduction and murder of a 29-year-old Hyderpora-Srinagar butcher, calling it a “cold-blooded and premeditated act” carried out for financial gain.

Javaid Ahmad Poswal, Mohammad Ashraf Kaloo Khel, and Mohammad Imran Poswal were convicted by the Additional Sessions Court Anantnag under Sections 302 and 109 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) in FIR No. 63/2017, registered at Police Station Mattan.

The court, presided over by Judge Masarat Roohi, also imposed fines on the convicts and directed the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Anantnag to compensate the victim’s family under Section 545-A of the Jammu and Kashmir Code of Criminal Procedure.

The victim, Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai of Hyderpora in Srinagar under police jurisdiction of Budgam, was lured to the forests of Hutmarah, Mattan, under the pretense of a livestock deal.

There, his hands were tied; he was strangled, and robbed.

His body, bearing signs of torture, was recovered several days later with his hands still bound behind his back. His vehicle was later found abandoned in Pampore.

The murder sparked outrage across Kashmir, particularly among the local business community. Police from Mattan police station led the investigation, using call detail records, eyewitness accounts, and forensic evidence to piece together the sequence of events. "The looted money was also partially recovered, strengthening the case against the accused," the court said in its judgment.

Over a dozen witnesses were presented by the prosecution, led by Senior Prosecuting Officer Mohammad Yaseen Najar and the Public Prosecutor. The court found the trio guilty after a thorough evaluation of both oral and documentary evidence.

“The accused had conspired and executed the murder with a clear intent to rob the victim,” the judgment stated.

Speaking after the verdict, Ganai’s wife said the judgment offered a sense of closure but could not undo the pain her family endured.

“He was just trying to earn an honest living,” she said, holding back tears. “They killed him for a few thousand rupees. Our family will never be whole again.”

Ganai is survived by his wife and two young children.

The court had earlier convicted the three men on July 10, calling the killing a “premeditated and cold-blooded act” motivated by greed.

However, the sentence, however, was announced on Wednesday.