Tufail Matoo case: Court pulls by police for slow probe “75 suspects in killing”

Srinagar: A local court Wednesday pulled up police for slow probe into the killing of 17-year-old Tufail Ahmad Matto and directed it to complete identification parade of all suspects within 30-days. Official sources told that investigation officer of the police appeared in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, Yaspal Bourney and submitted identification parade report before it. The investigating officer also submitted that police carried out identification parade of three out of 75 suspects in the case before a magistrate.  However, the counsel for petitioner submitted that it would take years to complete identification parade if process goes the way police was doing it.“It took police nearly two years to carry out identification parade of three suspects and now it is saying there are 75 suspects in all, how much time will it take?” the counsel said. After hearing the both side, the court expressed unhappiness over the pace of the identification parade and asked police to expedite the same. “It is your prerogative to complete the identification parade. You can’t come to me for every direction and I can’t tell you each and every step you will do,” Yaspal Bourney told the police in open court. The court directed police to conclude the identification parade till April 07 next.  Mattoo’s death triggered off cycle of violence in the valley and at least 112 persons were killed in subsequent five months.  According to the family, Tufail was returning home from tuitions on June 11 last when police teargas shell hit him near Gani Memorial College in old city, killing him on the spot.The police even refused the file an FIR initially and it was on the directions of the court that a case was registeredIt was on 27-October last year when additional District Magistrate, deputed Shahbaz Ahmad Bodha, Tehsildar South Srinagar, on magisterial duty at police station Nowhatta with regard to the identification parade.