The Family of one of the slain in the Hyperpora, Srinagar encounter that broke out between the militants and the security forces, staged a protest at the Barazulla Bridge, Srinagar, in the middle of the night and said that the slain, Mohammed Altaf Bhat, was a civilian who was used as ‘human shield.’ The family demanded that the dead body of the slain be returned.
On Monday, in an encounter that had broken out between the militants and the government forces at Srinagar’s Hyderpora, the Jammu Kashmir police claimed to have killed 2 militants and an ‘Over Ground Worker,’ Mohammad Altaf Bhat.
#SrinagarEncounterUpdate: The house owner who was injured in terrorist fire, succumbed to his injuries. #Terrorists have been hiding on top floor of his building. As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as #terror associate. Search is still going on: IGP Kashmir https://t.co/rRfPbiqq1C
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) November 15, 2021
The family, however, denied the claims made by the police and said that Altaf was a civilian, who was used as ‘Human Shield,’ and later murdered. The family said that they’re being denied of giving Altaf a burial as well, as the forces refused to return the dead body of the slain.
The slain’s niece, a journalist, took to Twitter and said that her innocent uncle was killed in cold blooded murder and that the family should be returned the his body.
You killed my innocent uncle Mohammad Altaf Bhat in cold blooded murder In Hyderpora, you used him as human shield and now saying he was “OGW”. return us his body @JmuKmrPolice @SrinagarPolice @IGP
— saimabhat (@saimabhat) November 15, 2021
Meanwhile, the Jammu Kashmir PDP said that the allegations were “grave” and that the least that could have been done was to return the dead body. “Are even dead ones a threat to peace now?” the tweet by the JK-PDP concludes.
These allegations are grave and merit speedy investigation. Least @JmuKmrPolice could do is handover the dead body to the family for a decent burial. Are even dead ones a threat to peace now? https://t.co/QEE4mLlpVj
— J&K PDP (@jkpdp) November 15, 2021