J&K Administration Orders Magisterial Inquiry Into Srinagar Encounter

The office of the Lieutenant Governor of J&K said an ADM-rank officer would conduct the magisterial inquiry.

On Wednesday night, the J&K police had detained the families of Dr Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat.

Photo: Accessed by The Quint

The Jammu & Kashmir administration, on Thursday, 18 November, ordered a magisterial inquiry into the deaths of Dr Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat, the two civilians who were killed in an encounter in the Hyderpora area of Srinagar on Monday, 15 November.

The office of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir said an ADM-rank officer would conduct the magisterial inquiry and that the government would take suitable action once the report is submitted in a time-bound manner.

The office further said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration was fully committed to protecting the lives of innocent civilians and would ensure there was no injustice.

"We will look into the demands of the families. We are open to correction if anything has gone wrong. A police probe will also find out what went wrong," Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh told NDTV.

On Wednesday night, the J&K police had detained the families of Dr Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat, who were sitting on a candle night vigil as part of their demonstration at the city's Press Enclave.

The families were demanding the police to return the bodies of the deceased for their last rites but were allegedly forcibly removed from the protest site and taken into police vehicles, NDTV reported. A scuffle also broke out between the protesters and the police, reported The Hindu.

The J&K authorities had buried their bodies on Tuesday in far-flung Handwara, a region in north Kashmir, Greater Kashmir reported.

The family members said that a police officer had visited them and assured them that the bodies would be returned and asked them to leave from the protest site, reported NDTV.

(With inputs from ANI, NDTV, Greater Kashmir.)