People pray for a man killed in a gunfight in Srinagar city, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 19, 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. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- 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.
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."
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.
In February, the police had booked a resident of Pulwama district under the anti-terror law for campaigning to secure the body of his teenage son, who the authorities claimed was a militant.
A guerilla war has been going on between militants and Indian troopers stationed in the region since 1989.
Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Enditem
People wail over the killing of a man in a gunfight in Srinagar city, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 19, 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. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)
People wail over the killing of a man in a gunfight in Srinagar city, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Nov. 19, 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. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)
