Police detained family members demanding to return the body

Ground Report | New Delhi: Police detained family members; Late night police cracked down on opposing relatives of two businessmen Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat, who were killed in a controversial encounter in Srinagar's Hyderpora area on Monday. The families were forcibly removed from the protest site and taken in police vehicles. Facing the bitter cold, they protested and lit candles on Wednesday night to demand the return of the bodies of Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat, so that relatives could bury them properly.

Families sitting by candlelight as part of their demonstration in the city's press enclave, demanding police to return the bodies of the deceased for their last rites, were allegedly forcibly removed from the protest site and were taken away in police vehicles. , NDTV reported. As reported by The Hindu, a scuffle broke out between the protesters and the police as well.

The family members were carrying placards demanding justice. The family members said a police officer met them and assured them that the bodies would be returned and asked them to leave the protest site, NDTV reported.

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Journalist Saima Bhat, one of the victims, said, "I have worked in the press enclave for the last 11 years and have never cut power for such a long time. We are demanding the least." The four people who died in Haiderpura have been buried in Handwara, 70 km from Srinagar. For the past two to three years, the police have not been handing over the bodies of the slain militants to their families. However, the families of the three people killed in the incident are demanding their bodies.

In a video widely circulated online, Altaf Bhat's 13-year-old daughter described in tears the moment she learned of her father's death. He talked about how some policemen started laughing when he asked them why his father was killed. Businessman Altaf Bhat and dental surgeon Mudasir Gul were killed during a controversial anti-terrorist operation in Hyderpora on Monday. The police had initially claimed that they were gunned down by the terrorists, but later said that they may have been killed in the crossfire.

"My brother Altaf Ahmed was sitting at his shop when security personnel approached him and told him to close the shutters of the shop. They then took him to a nearby motorcycle showroom and kept him there. Other people were also kept there.

"There were about 30 people in this showroom," he said. Aamir and Mudassar were also kept in the showroom. He told my brother that this was a search operation and that the building would now be searched. Altaf Ahmed also went with them and searched the building. On his return from the search operation, he was again seated in the showroom. (Police detained family members)

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An eyewitness to the incident said: "At about five o'clock, police and army men in plainclothes came in two vehicles and confiscated the mobile phones of all of us (about 30 people). They put us in a motorcycle showroom 50 meters away. Altaf was taken back to the building. This time Mudassar went with Altaf and about 20 minutes later we heard gunshots. He has not returned since.

Former Member of Parliament and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Yousuf Tarigami has demanded a judicial inquiry into the Haiderpura case and said that the bodies of their loved ones should be returned to their families.

Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said in a tweet that a transparent investigation was needed into the Haiderpura encounter. Many questions are being raised about this encounter and the people who died in it.

Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the People's Democratic Party, said in a tweet that "using innocent civilians as human shields, killing them in crossfire and calling them OGWs (overground workers) is part of the Indian government's rollbook." Has become a part. A credible judicial inquiry is needed to bring the truth to light and end the tradition of impunity.

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