Police say Jaish behind killing, claim arrest of 3 persons
The police on Tuesday recovered the body of a man who had been abducted 46 days ago by unknown gunmen from Kulgam district.
Three local militants had been killed in October this year in the house of the deceased, Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat, 40. Six civilians had also been killed when explosives littered in the debris of the house went off in Larnoo village of Kulgam district on October 27. Another civilian was shot dead by the forces during protests.
“The body bearing visible torture marks and a bullet in the abdomen was buried in an orchard in Ahwatoo village and was recovered from there,” Kulgam superintendent of police Harmeet Singh told media persons.
“The disclosure was made by three persons arrested and subsequently interrogated during the course of the investigation. Pakistani JeM militants are involved in his killing,” he said.
Bhat is survived by wife and two children. He was laid to rest in the native graveyard at Larnoo.
His family remained clueless about his whereabouts all through this period and had even made an emotional appeal to gunmen through videos, which went viral on social media, asking them to set him free.
A police official said that Bhat might have been killed a few days after his abduction.