Kashmir villagers continue protest over woman's death

People continued to protest for the third day in Kashmir’s Anantnag district where a woman was allegedly beaten to death by police during a search for contraband drugs.

People in Ahlaan Gadool village in the Kokernag area of Anantnag district are demanding action against those responsible for the death of 65-year-old Mukhti.

The woman’s family members have alleged that police officials had beaten her ruthlessly, which resulted in her death. Meanwhile, police have withdrawn their earlier statement that the search was conducted on a tip-off that there were stocks of dioscorea in the house, which is a contraband herb found in the valley forests and used in making drugs.

“During investigation, we found that the woman's son-in-law Abdul Majid Deka of Ahlaan Vailoo in Kokernag and two special police officers (SPOs) - Mohammad Ashraf Deka and Fayaz Ahmad - had misguided the police by placing 3.3 kg of dioscorea near her house,” a fresh statement said. The two SPOs and the son-in-law of the woman have already been arrested and a departmental probe has been ordered against the assistant sub-inspector who headed the search team.

“We are awaiting the post-mortem report, which will establish the cause of the woman's death,” a police official said.

Over 2,300 missing in Valley

 J&K Government on Monday said more than 2,300 persons have been declared “missing” in the state even as efforts were on to trace them, PTI reports from Srinagar. “As per the inputs furnished by the concerned district development commissioners, 2,305 persons have been declared missing,” chief minister Omar Abdullah, , said in a written reply to a question. Omar said FIRs have been registered in 182 cases while “missing reports” have been lodged in most of the remaining cases.