17/06/2026
*Over 2 months after contentious killing of Kashmiri man in ‘encounter’, his body is exhumed*
Srinagar, Jun 16: In April, the body of 30-year-old Rashid Ahmad Mughal was found in the forests of Arhama village in Ganderbal. While the Army had said Mughal (30) was killed in an "encounter", the family had claimed he was innocent and killed in a "fake gunfight".
On Monday, Mughal's family said that his body was exhumed last week and handed over to them. "We buried him at night about five days back. Some of his family members were with us along with the police," his uncle Ghulam Rasool Mughal told The Indian Express.
Police sources confirmed that the body was exhumed and handed over to the family for burial last week. Mughal was buried late at night at their ancestral graveyard in Chunt Walivar village of Lar in Ganderbal.
On April 1, the Army had issued a statement claiming that a terrorist had been eliminated in an encounter in the Arhama forests of Ganderbal. The identity was not released. An ATM card, recovered by the J&K Police from Mughal, eventually led to his identification.
The family had called the encounter into question, stating that the deceased was not a militant but an educated individual who helped people in his village secure documents such as domicile certificates, job cards, old-age pension cards and bank loan documents for nominal charges.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba M***i had sought an impartial probe into the incident.
The Jammu and Kashmir Home Department, which falls under the purview of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the encounter.
Announcing the probe, Sinha had stated, "I have ordered a thorough and impartial magisterial inquiry into the Arhama, Ganderbal incident. The inquiry will examine all aspects related to the incident and ensure that justice is served."
The inquiry report was not publicly released.
According to Mughal's brother, Ajaz, Rashid had left home on the morning of March 31 and did not return in the evening. "We called him around 6 pm. His phone was switched off. He had an old phone, and we thought it must have broken down," he had said.
The next morning, the Station House Officer paid him a visit. "He told me that my brother had an accident and asked me to come along," Ajaz had said. "They took me to the police control room in Srinagar and asked me to identify a body. I was shocked to see it was my brother's."
Ajaz had said police had told him that his brother was a militant. "I told them it was not true. I asked them to hand over the body, but they refused," he had claimed. "They took it to Handwara; I was the only family member accompanying it."–(The Indian Express)
