“Before Their Home Was Reduced to Rubble, A Mother’s Last Connection to Her Missing Son”
Before security forces demolished Shahzada Bano’s home with controlled explosives, they showed her the place where her son, Adil Hussain Thoker, had reportedly returned for a meal.
Just a few hours later, around 12:30 a.m., soldiers levelled the house in Guree village, near Bijbehara in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Bano was first escorted safely to a relative’s home nearby. Sniffer dogs and bomb disposal teams later combed through the wreckage for any remaining explosives.
Adil, once seen as a bright and promising student, is now among the main suspects in the deadly Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people. His family says they hadn’t heard from him in years.
“We have not heard from him since April 29, 2018,” Bano said, her voice trembling. “He told us he was going to Badgam for an exam. After that, his phone went silent. We filed a missing person’s report three days later.”
Even now, Bano finds it hard to believe her son could be involved in such violence. But she added, “If he is guilty, let the law take its course.” She pleaded for Adil to surrender: “We just want to live in peace.”
According to Bano, security forces arrived late Thursday night, searched their home, and even made a video call to an Army officer showing the inside of the house.
“They told me, ‘Your son came home and had a meal.’ I said, ‘If you knew that, why didn’t you catch him?’ I told them he hasn’t been home for years,” she said.
Moments later, officials warned her that a bomb was about to explode, urging her to run.
Investigators believe Adil crossed into Pakistan in 2018 under the pretext of pursuing studies, but later slipped back into India earlier this year across the LoC.
Following the attack, Adil’s father Waleem Mohammad Thoker, brothers Jahir and Arshlam, and cousins Julankar and Sajjad were taken into custody. Bano herself was detained briefly.
Standing by the ruins of her home, clutching an old photo of Adil, Bano said, “My house is gone. My husband and sons are in custody. How long will neighbours feed me?” She insisted that the sketches released by authorities look nothing like her son.
In the close-knit community of Guree, the shock is still fresh.
Hafeez, a neighbour and shopkeeper, remembered Adil as a serious young man focused on his studies, not someone drawn to violence.
“He wasn’t very social, but he was always studying. He was pursuing his master’s from IGNOU after completing his degree at Khanabal College,” Hafeez said.
Another local, Tariq Ahmad, appealed to authorities to release Adil’s detained relatives, saying, “The whole village is in mourning.”
Credits – TIMES OF INDIA
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