Srinagar: A man who was the owner of a house in Kulgam district where seven civilians and three militants were killed in a gunfight earlier in October was found dead on Tuesday morning.
Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat had been abducted by unknown gunmen nearly a week after the blast and the gunfight from his Larnoo village on October 27.
Reports said the body of Bhat was recovered from a field in Awahatoo village of the Kulgam district.
They said that no bullet marks were seen on his body.
Seven civilians were killed in Kulgam in a powerful explosion after a gunfight in Laroo village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district in which three militants were killed.
In the aftermath of the killing, restrictions had been clamped in Srinagar’s Old City, to foil any protests against the Kulgam killings.
In Nowhatta, Rajouri Kadal, Saraf Kadal, Maharaj Gunj, Gojwara, Khanyar, Safa Kadal and other areas of the Old City, armed forces had kept a tight vigil to keep protesters at bay, witnesses had said.
The news about the Kulgam killings had spread like wild fire and public movement in Srinagar city and major towns of Kashmir valley had virtually come to a grinding halt as passenger transport vehicles were rarely moving on very few roads in the Srinagar city.
In a statement, the Joint Resistance Leadership had said that Kashmir had been turned into “a slaughterhouse where no one—young, old, children or women—is safe.”
Calling the Kulgam killings as ‘terrible news’, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had asked “how long can the ground realities be ignored and living in denial of bad situation in Kashmir.”
“Terrible news coming out from Kulgam. May the deceased find place in Jannat. Alienating the people in the fight against militancy is a sure fire recipe for losing the fight. How long can we go on ignoring the ground realities & living in denial about how bad things are in Kashmir?” Omar wrote on Twitter.
PDP President and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti had also expressed shock over the death of seven civilians and injuries to scores others in Kulgam.
Kashmir Economic Alliance chairperson (KEA) Muhammad Yaseen Khan had strongly condemned the innocent killings in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district which has left seven civilians dead and dozens seriously injured.
Blaming government forces for carrying a ‘planned massacre’ in state, KTMF president had termed it sheer cowardice and an inhuman act.
A Sikh Body, Gurmat Taksal while calling Kashmir a dispute, had said in a statement that they condemned killing of innocent civilians in Kulgam and called for the bloodshed in Kashmir to end once for all.