‘Mouji, They Killed Me’: Kupwara Man’s Last Words When Unknown Gunmen Shot Him

In Kani Khas village in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, gloom descended on Sunday morning as news spread that Ghulam Rasool Magray, a 44-year-old labourer, had been shot dead by unknown gunmen late the previous night. Neighbours gathered outside the family’s modest home to offer condolences.

The killing comes just four days after the terror attack in Pahalgam, where 26 tourists were killed. A local man was also killed while trying to protect a tourist. Since then, security forces across Jammu and Kashmir have been on high alert. 

Inside a small, single-storey home, Ghulam Rasool’s elderly mother, Hajra Begum, sat sobbing. “There was a knock on our door at 10:30 PM, right after we’d finished dinner,” she said. “We had no electricity, and it was dark. I couldn’t see their faces, but I think there were two of them. They said they were from the army and had come for a search.”

Then, she heard the gunshots. “They shot him, right outside our house. The last thing he cried out, ‘Mouji (mother), they killed me.’” Since her husband passed away, Hajra Begum had been living in the house with only her son.

He was rushed first to the Government Medical College in Handwara town and then referred to Srinagar in critical condition, where doctors declared him dead after some hours.

Next door, Magray’s brother lives with his wife and children. His sister-in-law, speaking through tears as she looked out the window, said the army only arrived nearly ninety minutes after the shooting. Her husband had been away that night.

“Ghulam Rasool was a shareef, honest man," she said. "He worked as a labourer. He was not married - he had some psychological problems, and it was difficult to find a match for him." She also denied claims circulating in some media reports that he was a social activist.

Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh, a member of the J&K Legislative Assembly from the area, visited the family in the morning. "I was in constant touch with them," he told Outlook. "He was declared dead around 2 a.m. It’s unfortunate that none from the administration have shown up here yet. In times like this, it is our duty to stand with our people."

Magray’s death comes amid an intense security crackdown across Kashmir in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. More than 1,500 people have reportedly been detained over the past four days as authorities sweep through towns and villages, searching for those suspected of harbouring militant sympathies.