Hyderpora encounter: Bodies exhumed; handed over to families

Ground report | New Delhi: Hyderpora encounter Bodies exhumed; Amid mounting pressure from various quarters, the bodies of Barjula's building owner Altaf Ahmed Bhat and Dr. Mudasir Gul of Srinagar's Rawalpora area were taken out two days later from a graveyard in the Handwara area of ​​Kupwara's northern district to be handed over to their families for the last rites.

The bodies of businessman Altaf Bhat and dentist Mudassir Gul were not handed over to the relatives till late Thursday night. After hectic deliberations and the outrage shown by the families of those killed, mainstream leaders, and civil society activists, the administration led by LG Manoj Sinha called on the police.

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"In the presence of police and other administration officials, the bodies of Altaf and Dr. Mudasir were pulled out from a graveyard in Handwara amid tight security arrangements," an official associated with the development said. "The excavation took place silently in the presence of a limited number of police and civil administration officials." He said the excavation took place at 5.30 pm after which the bodies of the deceased were taken to Srinagar.

An official said that the bodies of Altaf and Dr. Mudasir Gul were handed over to their families late in the evening. According to the family sources of Altaf and Dr. Mudasir, they were asked by the authorities and the police to ensure that only a limited number of people attend the funeral and there is no "law and order situation". (Hyderpora encounter Bodies exhumed)

Both the families, engulfed in shock and grief since Monday evening, once again mourned the killing of Altaf and Dr Mudasir when their bodies reached their homes in Srinagar. Altaf's children mourning their father for the last time, weeping in pain and sorrow again fell on the families. A similar sight was seen at Dr Mudasir's house when his wife saw her husband for the last time. Eyewitnesses said that no one could control his emotions when Dr. Mudasir's wife tried to show him her father's face to one-year-old Inaaya. A local presence on the occasion said, "There were tears in every eye, all broke."

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The district magistrate of Srinagar announced that Kashmir Administrative Service officer Khurshid Ahmad Shah would investigate the Hyderpora firing in view of the "facts and circumstances relating to the incident and the cause of death".

Police officials, including IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar, met the families of Bhat and Gul earlier in the day on Thursday. Bhat's niece Saima Bhat said after the meeting that the IGP had told her that they were considering returning her body.

At midnight on Wednesday, the police forcibly removed the families of Gul and Bhat from the protest site, before power was cut off in the area. Families protest with car headlights on, amid sub-zero temperatures in Srinagar.

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