Kupwara: The district police chief Yougal Manhas Wednesday said that the body of Abdul Rashid Dar, a youth from Kunan Poshpora who was said to have gone missing from army custody, was recovered from the Zurhama-PK Galli forest area in the early morning and further investigation into the matter has been taken up.
“The dead body was brought to SDH Kupwara where it was identified by the relatives of the missing person. After completing all medico-legal formalities including post-mortem by a team of doctors, the dead body was handed over to the family members for burial,” Manhas said.
“Cognisance of the matter has been taken for further investigations,” Manhas added.
On 22 December, police said that Dar was detained by the army for questioning in connection with a militancy case, from where he had allegedly escaped from custody. “On his revelation about the hideout, he gave a slip to the forces. We are investigating in which circumstances he managed to flee. We are in touch with his family also,” Manhas had said.
Dar’s brother confirmed to The Kashmir Walla that the body was handed over to the family. “The body was given to us [family] just a short while,” Dar’s brother said in a phone interview.
Speaking with The Kashmir Walla, Kunan village sarpanch Khursheed Ahmad said that the Kupwara district police chief called the family in the morning for identification after a body was recovered in the Zurhama forest area. “However, the family urged the police to bring the body to District Hospital Kupwara for identification and the post-mortem,” Ahmad said.
“The body is in a dilapidated condition. And it was hard to identify it. However, the family members later identified a mark on his body, confirming that it is their son,” Ahmad said.
Meanwhile, as soon as the news of the recovery of Dar’s body spread, the villagers assembled and staged a protest against the administration and the army.
