Bodies of men martyred in fake operation exhumed in Occupied Kashmir

The bodies of three Kashmiri civilians martyred in a staged gunfight by Indian forces in July were exhumed and handed over to their families on Saturday, officials said.

The three men – Imtiyaz Ahmad, 21, Abrar Ahmad, 25, and Abrar Khatana, 18 – were shot dead in Amshipora village in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on July 18, with authorities initially claiming that they were "militants".

After two months of protests by their families, who said the victims were labourers with no connection to any militant outfits, the Indian military admitted its wrongdoing on Sept. 18.

In a statement, the army said the men were labourers from Rajouri, an area in occupied Jammu region, and that its personnel had overstepped their authority by exceeding the powers vested under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Earlier this week, regional police chief Vijay Kumar confirmed that DNA tests had proven the victims’ identities and their bodies would be exhumed and handed over to their families.

Lingering questions

Despite the Sept. 29 arrest of two people on charges of “criminal conspiracy” in the case, questions still remain over the initial claims made by Indian forces.

In particular, the weapons and ammunitions said to have been found in the victims’ possession at the time of the “operation” remain a point of contention.

The official statement issued after the staged killings said that all “recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes.”

The consequent admission of wrongdoing gives rise to questions over how the arms and ammunition were “recovered” from the labourers, with officials either unwilling or unable to provide a credible explanation.

Police chief Vijay Kumar was not available for comment despite repeated attempts by Anadolu Agency, while Amrit Pal Singh, senior superintendent of police for Shopian district, said he was "busy" in a meeting.