The High court of Jammu Kashmir has ordered the Jammu Kashmir administration to allow the exhumation of the body of Amir Magray, killed in the Hyderpora “encounter” for Thursday.
“His body should be exhumed and then transported to his hometown, If the body is decomposed, the administration must pay 5 lacs compensation to Amir’s family,” the High court ordered.
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In December, The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in a shootout in the Hyderpora area of Srinagar in November filed a petition in the Jammu Kashmir High Court seeking the return of the body of his son, maintaining his “innocence”.
The 18-page petition was filed by Amir’s father Mohammed Lateef through his lawyers Deepika Singh Rajawat and Mohammed Arshad Chowdhary.
The move came two days after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Jammu Kashmir Police probing the Hyderpora encounter claimed that while one civilian was killed by a foreign Militant, two others, including a local “militant” (Magray), died in the crossfire after being used as a human shield by the hiding militant.
A Pakistani militant and three other persons were killed in Hyderpora on November 15, the police claimed, adding that all the slain men had links to militancy. The families of the three, alleging foul play, had claimed that they were innocent, prompting the police to order an inquiry. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.
Invoking Article 21 of the Constitution which extends the right to have decent burial as per religious ceremonies and rules, for his son, the petitioner said he has been instrumental in fighting and curbing militancy in Gool and Sangaldan area by working as a civilian volunteer with the Army.
Referring to the return of the bodies of two others, a building landlord and a doctor with whom Amir was working as an office peon on November 18, the petition pleaded the court to direct the respondents — Union Home Ministry, Jammu and Kashmir administration and Director General of Police — to hand over his body to the family.
“The magisterial probe was time bound and was supposed to submit its report within 15 days but despite passage of more than one month, no such report has been submitted so far,” the petition said.