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Kashmiri Pandits are upset over news that Bitta Karate, accused of killing 40 of their brethren in the early nineties, figures in the list of those who may be released from jails across Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief minister-designate Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has promised that he will release all those who do not have 'serious' charges registered against them.
Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate was arrested from his hideout in Srinagar in 1991 after he allegedly carried out a series of killings of Pandits.
"He is a psychopathic killer... he is the one who started killing Kashmir Pandits and took pride in telling the same to the media," said a police officer in J&K.
Karate is lodged in Kotbalwal jail. It is the same place where Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, was lodged before he was released along with two others in exchange for the safe release of passengers aboard Indian Airlines IC 814.
"It is unfortunate that a cold-blooded murderer like Bitta Karate will be released from jail just because no one dares to depose against him in court. That does not mean that he is innocent," Dr Shakti Bhan, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit, told rediff.com in New Delhi.
"We have not heard his name being mentioned in the list of those who are likely to be released. He is a cold-blooded murderer and has a number of cases [registered] against him... we have lost count of the cases against him. We sincerely hope that he does not figure in the list of prisoners likely to be released," a police official, who led the raids against Karate and finally nabbed him, said.
Dr Bhan lashed out at the policies of the Mufti's People's Democratic Party.
"This is the same Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who had released top militants in 1989 to secure the release of his daughter Rubiya Sayeed. It is unfortunate that to him the release of militants, their rehabilitation... is more important than ensuring the safe return of Pandits to the valley. We are Kashmiris and we have the right to go back to our homeland. Let us see what the Mufti does about it," she said.
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