Omar, Mufti demand bodies be given to kin

Srinagar, January 4

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday demanded that bodies of the three alleged militants killed in the Parimpora encounter last week be handed over to their families.

The leaders cited claims of their families that the three were innocent, though the police had said they were radicalised and two of them had links with the Lashkar-e Taiba.

Abdullah said the encounter should be probed in a fair and transparent manner. “It is very important that the probe into this encounter be concluded at the earliest. Only a fair & transparent probe, already promised by @manojsinha_ , will satisfy the families who have lost their loved ones who they insist were innocent,” he tweeted.

‘How can you win hearts of Kashmiris’

People are saying we want the bodies of the three killed, why can’t a mother see the face of her lost son one last time, this is injustice, how can you win the hearts of Kashmiris? Mehbooba Mufti, PDP

The former Chief Minister said the UT Administration should, in the interim, hand over the bodies to their families. “The L-G has promised a fair & speedy probe into this encounter when @JKNC_ Lok sabha member @masoodi_hasnain spoke to him about it recently. In the interim we hope the L-G will order the handing over of the bodies to the families,” he added.

Speaking in the same vein, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre and the UT Administration should review the policy of not handing over the bodies of those killed in encounters with security forces.

The former CM claimed that during her tenure at the helm, she was also told not to return the bodies of the slain militants.”I refused it as it is against humanity and our religious beliefs,” she said. She claimed that it was not even clear if those killed were militants and urged L-G Manoj Sinha to intervene. — Agencies