The bodies of Riyaz Naikoo, the operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, his associate and two other militants were buried by police in Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district late Wednesday evening, police said.
“The bodies of four militants, including Naikoo, were nothanded over to their families but buried in Sonamarg, Ganderbal, in presence ofa magistrate,” police officials said here. “Some family members of Naikoo werealso present.”
Police officials from Ganderbal told the Greater Kashmirthat Naikoo and others were buried in graveyard located near police staton.”Some family members were present during burial,” officials said, adding thatthose who attended the burial were given permission by the District Magistrate.
Naikoo was killed in an encounter with security forces inhis home village in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. A top commander ofHizbul Mujahideen, Naikoo had been on the run for eight years and carried areward of Rs 12 lakh on his head.
This is for the first time in the three-decade oldarmed-insurgency in Kashmir that bodies of local militants are not being handedover to their families for the last rites. While officials say it is to preventthe spread of the coronavirus, large militant funerals have long been a sourceof worry for the authorities in Kashmir.
Earlier, local militants killed in gunfights would beidentified immediately and their bodies handed over to families so that theycould be buried in their native villages. In the past, thousands gathered forthe funerals of militants, chanting pro-freedom slogans.
Police have said if they allow for identification atencounter sites and permit burial at their native places, huge gatherings mightspread COVID19.
“As per several orders of the government of the UnionTerritory of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the Disaster Management Act, we haveto ensure strict lockdown even during burial. To avoid such situations we aredoing burial at safer and isolated places,” police has said a statementearlier.