KASHMIR: BODIES OF CIVILIANS EXHUMED AMID CLAIMS THEY WERE USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS

Fri 19 November 2021:

Authorities in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir exhumed two bodies of four men killed in a controversial gunfight and handed them over to their families, officials said Friday.

Witnesses and families of the civilians and one suspected rebel have denied the police version of events, saying they were deliberately killed by Indian troops while being used as a human shield in the stand-off.

Police said the rebels included a Pakistani citizen, but offered no evidence. They also described one of the civilians as an “overground worker,” a term Indian authorities use for rebel sympathisers and their civilian supporters.

Authorities later secretly buried all of the victims in a remote northwestern village.

Following widespread public outrage, the bodies of trader Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudassir Ahmed, a dental surgeon and real estate dealer, were exhumed late on Thursday in presence of government officials and a team of doctors.

“THEY WERE LAUGHING”: GIRL SOBS ON VIDEO OVER FATHER’S KILLING IN SRINAGAR (VIDEO)

The exhumations were carried out Thursday evening at a northwestern village of Kupwara district, and the bodies were handed over to their families late in the night in Srinagar city, summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“Two bodies belonging to businessmen Mudassir Gul and Mohammad Altaf Bhat were exhumed from a graveyard in far-off Handwara village last night,” a local government official said. “The bodies were later brought to Srinagar after securing an assurance from their families to keep the burial a low-key affair and peaceful.”

Scores of people turned up for the funeral of Altaf Bhat despite biting cold in Srinagar last night.#Kashmir #KashmirBleeds pic.twitter.com/JxEsKWgPil

— Mlr KaMrAN (@MlrKamran) November 19, 2021

Heartbreaking scenes at the funeral of Mohammad Altaf Bhat who was among four killed in a controversial police raid in Srinagar earlier this week and buried by authorities clandestinely 50 miles away.

Today, two bodies were exhumed and handed over to families. #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/fzXiRQenN5

— Aakash Hassan (@AakashHassan) November 18, 2021

Authorities of the #Jammu and #Kashmir administration exhumed the bodies of Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudasir Gul, two killed in the #Hyderpora encounter on Thursday, and handed them over to their families pic.twitter.com/sFaDZRCh5y

— DNOW Media (@DnowMedia) November 19, 2021

Mohammad Altaf Bhat.

Dr.Mudassir Gul

Eyewitnesses said when the bodies were brought to their homes for reburial, relatives including women were seen wailing and beating chests.

On Wednesday night, the police detained over a dozen relatives of the two families as they protested demanding the bodies.

Meanwhile, a shutdown called by the separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat Conference, against the controversial killings have affected normal life in the region.

Shops, businesses and private offices in the region remained closed in the wake of the shutdown. Reports said public transport also remained off the roads in the region.

Over the last two years, authorities have buried the bodies of hundreds of suspected rebels and their alleged associates, including civilians, in unmarked graves in remote areas, denying their families proper funerals.

Kashmiris for years have accused Indian troops of targeting civilians and committing abuses with impunity.

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