Srinagar, Nov 16: The four persons who were killed in the Hyderpora encounter Monday evening have been buried in north deep during wee hours, official sources said. The slain included two militants and two civilians.
IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar told a presser that to prevent a law and order issue, the bodies have not been given to the families. He said they were buried during the wee hours today.
Apart from two militants, one of whom police said was a foreigner; the slain included a businessman Altaf Ahmad Bhat of Barzaull and a dental surgeon, Mudasir Gull.
Kumar said Bhat the owner of the building was killed in a crossfire and in whose fire he was killed needs investigation. “If he has a pistol bullet, he was killed in the militant fire and if he has an AK bullet, he was killed in our fire. And this a matter of investigation,” Kumar said. “We wanted to save the civilians but it was extremely difficult in that situation.”
Police sources confirmed that all the four were buried during wee hours on Tuesday at Wadar Payeen in the Rajwar belt of Handwara.
The burial was confirmed at a time when the families of two civilians are seeking the mortal remains for a decent burial. Bhat’s family has met the civil administration and has now approached the police.
The Jammu and Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the call centre that was being run Hyderpora. It will also probe the sequence of events that led to the encounter in which two militants and two civilians were killed.
The SIT, Kashmir Police Chief Vijay Kumar said would be led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer.
“SIT headed by a DIG will probe modus-operandi of the hi-tech hideout of Hydeprora,” Kumar told reporters in the press conference on Tuesday. “They will also get into the details of whether militants were in touch with any foreign country. The team will also look into the sequence of events that led to the killing of the building owner and militant associate.”
Kumar said the recoveries included six computers and a number of mobile phones. The SIT will also probe how the businessman Altaf Ahmad Bhat was killed. He termed the call centre to be “authorised”. The centre, Kumar said was being run by Mudasir Gull.
