Retired SSP Mir shot dead by terrorists while offering 'azaan'

Srinagar: A 72-year-old retired police officer, who was the local "muezzin", was shot dead by terrorists while he was giving “azaan” – the call for prayer -- from a mosque in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Sunday, police said.

Recalling the moments before Mohammad Shafi Mir was killed, his cousin Mohammad Mustafa, who was at home, said the call for the pre-dawn prayers was being given by a loudspeaker and suddenly it stopped.

Mir's last words were "reham" (mercy), he said.

The "azaan" had stopped at "Ashhadu Anna Mohammadu Rasool-Allah (I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah)", Mustafa said.

Police said Mir retired as a senior superintendent of police (SSP) in 2012. He was shot dead by terrorists inside the mosque in the Gantmulla locality of the north Kashmir district's Sheeri area, they said.

"Terrorists fired upon Shri Mohd Shafi, a retired police officer, at Gantmulla, Sheeri Baramulla, while praying 'azaan' in the mosque and succumbed to injuries," the Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X.

Police have launched a search operation in the area to nab the assailants. Mir had become the local "muezzin" -- a person who calls for prayers -- and he was devoted to his duties at the mosque, his family members said.

Following the incident, a large number of people gathered at Mir's house and at the mosque complex. Mir is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Talking to reporters, Mustafa said, "He (Mir) was my cousin. He used to call for prayers every day. This morning, while I was reading the Quran, he started the 'azaan', so I closed the Quran."

"He recited 'Ashhadu Anna Mohammadu RasoolAllah' and then the 'azaan' stopped. I only heard a shout of 'reham'. It was in a heavy voice," he said.

Mustafa said he thought Mir might have stopped his call due to some other reason and guessed he could have collapsed due to dizziness. But after some time people came to know about the incident, he said.

"My daughter came and told me that Shafi uncle has died. We went to his house and learnt that Mir had been taken to Baramulla (hospital)...we were told he had suffered bullet injuries," he said.

Some of Mir's relatives claimed he was shot four times. Mir's younger brother Abdul Kareem said he was sleeping, but was woken up by sounds which he assumed could have been caused because of a problem in the microphone.

"My daughterin-law said she heard people crying...," he said.

"Mir used to give the call for 'azaan' every day. I think this was planned as the Imam Sahib (prayer leader) goes home on Saturday and returns on Sunday," Kareem. (PTI)