J&K fake encounter: Dead bodies exhumed

The bodies of the three persons killed in an alleged fake encounter on April 30 on the Line of Control (LoC) by the army were exhumed on Friday afternoon and were identified by the relatives.

The bodies of Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone and Mohammad Shafi Lone were exhumed from the north Kashmir's Kalaroos village graveyard, as per the orders of the district magistrate Kupwara, Showkat Ahmad Mir.

The relatives approached Mir with the exhumation request claiming that the killed youth were their family members and not 'infiltrating militants.'

Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Lt Col  J S Brar had on April 30 in a media statement said, "The alert troops guarding the LoC foiled an infiltration bid in the Machil sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district and killed three infiltrating militants."

The villagers of Nadihal in north Kashmir's Baramulla district had lodged a missing report about the three local youth with the police earlier this month.

Meanhwile, Mir said that after the identification, the bodies were handed over to their relatives for reburial.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday expressed 'his concern to the army authorities on the incident.'

Omar conveyed his concerns to the GOC 15 Corps Lt  General N C Marwah who called on him in Srinagar on Friday.

The GOC 15 Corps assured the chief minister that the army will cooperate fully with investigations ordered by the state government and 'assist them to reach the truth'.

Lt Gen Marwah informed the chief minister that based on the preliminary investigation of the police, the army has already ordered a high-level internal enquiry into the incident to bare the facts.

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday evening ordered a magisterial enquiry to be conducted by the Kashmir divisional commissioner, Naseema Lankar, into the alleged fake encounter.