Hyderpora encounter: Bodies of 2 Srinagar residents exhumed in Handwara

Authorities have exhumed the bodies of two residents from a graveyard at Wadder Zachaldara in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara, where they were buried along with two other persons who were killed in the encounter at Hyderpora on Monday. The two residents are Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Dr Mudassir Gul. A controversy erupted over Monday's encounter in Hyderpora following conflicting claims about the two deceased as their family members contested the police's charge that they were terror associates. The bodies were exhumed after sundown and are likely to be handed over to their families later in the night, they said, officials said. It will be a peaceful burial with no assembling of crowds. This will be the first time that the body of a person buried under police watch is being returned to his kin since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year. The bodies, accompanied by a police team, are being moved to Srinagar from Handwara where they were initially buried, the officials said. Earlier in the day, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered a magisterial probe into the Hyderpora encounter, while ensuring that there would be no injustice in the matter. "A magisterial inquiry by an officer of ADM rank has been ordered in the Hyderpora encounter. The government will take suitable action as soon as report is submitted in a time-bound manner. Jammu and Kashmir admin reiterates commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians and it will ensure there is no injustice, " the office of LG J&K said in a tweet.