Protest for return of bodies of killed civilians in Srinagar

(17 Nov 2021) Dozens of relatives of two civilians killed in a controversial gunfight in Indian-controlled Kashmir staged a protest in the disputed region's main city on Wednesday, pleading with authorities to return the bodies so they could bury them. Four people, including two civilians and two suspected rebels, died Monday night in the raid by government forces on alleged militants in Srinagar, police said. Police said the civilians died in the crossfire between government troops and the rebels, who included a Pakistani national. However, witnesses and families of the civilians said Indian troops used them as human shields during the standoff. Indian authorities later secretly buried the bodies in a remote northwestern village as part of a policy that started in 2020. Since then, authorities have buried the bodies of hundreds of suspected rebels and their alleged associates, including civilians, in unmarked graves in remote areas, denying their families proper funerals. The family members of the two civilians, identified as trader Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudassir Ahmed, a dental surgeon and real estate dealer, assembled in an area of Srinagar where several media offices are located and demanded the return of the bodies. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...