The bodies of two civilians killed in a gun battle in the Hydeborah area of Srinagar on Monday were excavated from a cemetery in Handwala, about 70 kilometers away, and were buried in the city later on Wednesday. They were handed over to their families during the valley protests. Merchants Altaf Ahmad Bhat and Mudasir Gul and two terrorists were killed in a gun battle in Hydeborah. The police insisted that the two were “workers on the ground” of the terrorist organization and were killed in the exchange of fire.
But their family members stated that the two were used as human shields and called the killing a “cold-blooded murder.” The police buried Bhat and Gul in Handwara without their family members, citing “law and order issues”. The body was exhumed in the presence of the magistrate and handed over to the family for burial at midnight. Officials asked the family to limit the funeral to close relatives and sought their assurance.
A large number of police officers were deployed around the houses of Dahl and Gul. Inspector General (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said that Srinagar will not have any restrictions. The governments of Jammu and Kashmir separately ordered authoritative investigations into Wednesday’s gun battle.
On Wednesday, the families of two civilians sat in Srinagar and held a candlelight vigil after the one-day protests, demanding that their bodies be handed over to them. They were forcibly taken away from the scene at midnight. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also held a sit-in on Thursday, demanding the return of the body. “We are sitting here quietly.
If we want, we will block roads and bridges, but we won’t. No slogans, no disturbing public order, no blocking of roads. We are not opposing the government, we are just asking for the return of the body,” he said .
Another former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, accused the center of being “inhumane” and said that she was under house arrest again. The leader of the National Conference, Farouk Abdullah, said he will write to the President of India to conduct a judicial investigation.
News Source : Hindustan Times
