Srinagar
Hundreds of people participated in funeral prayers of a Barzulla militant whose body was exhumed after more than a month in Kupwara. The militant Mudasir Ahmad Bhat was killed in a gunfight with government forces in Kachama forests on June 29 and buried in Tunga Top forest area after the government failed to establish the identity.
An official said that the permission for exhumation of the body was granted today after DNA samples of the slain militant matched with those claiming to be his kin.
“The body of Mudasir Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Ahmad Bhat of Nasti Mohalla Old Barzulla, Srinagar was exhumed at 04:40 pm Tuesday from the NK Gali Jumgund forests and handed over to his legal heirs,” the official said.
The exhumation of the body followed submission of an application by the family before the District Magistrate Kupwara after they saw pictures of Mudasir through social media and later at the concerned police station.
The family also provided DNA samples as part of the procedure for establishing the identity.
The DNA report was received by the administration on Monday and the family was subsequently informed.
On June 29, the army had claimed to have killed an unidentified militant in an encounter at Tunga Top forest area of Kachama. The slain was buried NK Gali area of Jumgund forests.
As per reports, the family was informed by some anonymous caller that the youth killed in Tunga Top forest area of Kachama in Kupwara was their kin.
The slain Mudasir went missing in 2016 and the family reportedly feigned ignorance about his joining the militant ranks.
The people of Barzulla and its adjoining areas had been holding continuous protests demanding the body of Mudasir.
During the funeral procession, people raised massive pro-freedom, pro-Pakistan and anti-India protests. Emotional scenes were witnessed before and after the funeral prayers.
Amid pro-freedom sloganeering, his body was buried at the ancestral graveyard.
Though forces had sealed all the entry and exit points leading towards Old Barzulla but hundreds of people from adjacent areas assembled and participated in the funeral procession.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown is being observed in Old Barzulla area and locals decide to observe shutdown for four days.
All shops and business establishments remained closed in the area.
