Dozens arrested for attending Jaish militant’s funeral amid COVID-19 lockdown

Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested dozens of people during nocturnal raids in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Barmaulla district a day after an FIR was filed against them for attending the funeral of a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander who was killed in an encounter on Wednesday.

A local news gathering agency, quoting police, said that dozens of people, who were identified through visuals, were arrested by the police in several areas of Sopore on Thursday night. The police said more arrests were expected in the coming days.

The police said those booked had violated protocols and government advisories barring social gatherings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The police said the legal heirs of the deceased militant had ensured they would “adhere to social distancing when the body was handed over to them after completing medico-legal formalities”.

However, it did not happen as photographs of a group of people attending the funeral surfaced on social media late on Wednesday evening. Large crowds attending the funeral of the slain militants in Kashmir has been a concern for security agencies for the last several years.

However, these pose a new challenge at a time when Kashmir is under lockdown enforced to prevent the spread of coronavirus that has claimed four lives and infected nearly 200 people so far.