Families seek bodies of 3 militants' killed in Srinagar encounter

Srinagar: Families of three alleged militants, killed in an encounter with security forces at Parimpora on the outskirts of the city last week, on Monday demanded the return of their bodies and a fair investigation into the incident.

According to security forces, Ajaz Maqbool Ganai, Zubair Ahmad Lone and Athar Mushtaq Wani were killed in an encounter on December 31. Police said while they were not listed as terrorists in their records, two of them had radical thoughts.

Holding placards that read "we want justice" and "stop killing innocents", the relatives of the slain youths held a protest demonstration on Residency Road here, demanding that their bodies be handed over to them so that they can perform their last rites.

The families also demanded a fair investigation into the incident, which they allege was a fake encounter.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah were among several mainstream politicians who called for returning the bodies to their families.

Meanwhile, 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 police had said they were radicalised and two of them had links with the Lashkar-e Taiba.