Rajouri resident Mohammad Saleem has been frantically searching his cousin and friend Ibrar Ahmad, a class XII student, and two other relatives missing for the past three weeks.

After “rumours” surfaced on social media that they might have been killed by security forces across Pir Panchal mountains in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on July 18, he was overwhelmed with anxiety since Sunday.

There is no way for him to confirm, as the “rumours” suggested, that the three men killed by security forces in a gunfight in Amshipora village of Shopian and declared “unidentified militants” could be his missing relatives. So, he requested this correspondent to share the picture showing the three bodies.

“I have seen the picture,” cried Saleem, 19, after this newspaper sent him the picture that was available on the social networking sites, through WhatsApp.

“The one in the middle is my brother Ibrar (cousin)…I am shocked, can’t understand how this can happen. I will go crazy. He was few years younger to me and we would play together,” he said.

The families live in Peeri village of Jammu’s Rajouri district, 25km from the district headquarters. Saleem and some other relatives had travelled all the way to Rajouri town to meet the senior superintendent of police, who reportedly told him to wait till evening for confirmation.

Saleem alleged the picture leaves no doubt that his relatives were killed in a fake encounter. If true, it could be the first reported instance of a fake encounter — the bane of three-decades-long militancy — in years. Security forces and police have faced many allegations of killings innocent people in fake encounters and dub them militants for rewards and promotions.

Saleem identified the man next to Ibrar in picture as his 25-year-old sister’s husband and namesake, and father of a child aged 3. He said the third, whose face is not visible in the picture, could be Imtiyaz, 22, their relative and the third missing person.

Jammu journalist and author Zafar Choudhary, who is the elder brother of Srinagar deputy commissioner Shahid Choudhary, wrote on Facebook that the three killed in Amshopora were “his distant relation”.

“I have just spoken to family, they’ve identified them beyond any doubt. They don’t remember the exact date of speaking to them last but say the news of death came on (the) 22nd day of losing contact with them,” he wrote.

Saleem said the three had left their homes in Peeri village of Rajouri to work as labourers in Kashmir on July 16 to earn livelihood.

“They are from very poor families. Ibrar’s father works (as a labourer) in Saudi Arabia. You will be shocked to find the condition of their homes and there was no way they could be linked with militancy,” he said. “On July 17, they spoke with their families on the phone. The same evening their phones were found switched off. We have been trying to locate them since then.”

Jammu activist Guftaar Ahmad said the three belong to poor Gujjar families. He said the families has lodged a missing report in Rajouri on Sunday but the police has not responded so far.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the army has launched an investigation based on the social media reports.

“We have noted social media inputs linked to the operation at Shopian on 18 July 2020. The three terrorists killed during the operation have not been identified and the bodies were buried based on established protocols,” he wrote in a text message to The Telegraph.

Shopian police chief Amritpal Singh did not respond to calls and text messages from this newspaper.

Both the army and the police had claimed to have killed the three “militants” in a joint operation on July 18.

Army brigadier Ajay Katoch told reporters on July 19 in Shopian that three “terrorists” were killed in the gunfight.

“Our search party was moved into target house, which was a newly constructed small single house. While the search party moved inside, it came under fire from inside the house. The search party immediately got deployed, lobbed grenades, and retaliated the fire which came from inside,” he had said. ‘In the ensuing action, three terrorists were neutralized. Dead bodies of terrorists, along with arms ammunition and IED material was handed over to J&K police.”

The officer claimed the area had not seen any operation for quite some time before the one on July 18 and it will further curtail the recruitment of militants.