Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government will hold a judicial probe into the deaths of two persons from Kulgam district whose bodies were recovered after they went missing last month, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said on Tuesday.
Three people, including two brothers from Rajouri who were staying in Kulgam, went missing last month. While the bodies of the two brothers were recovered, another person is still missing.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Minister Sakina Itoo, and the Chief Minister’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani visited the family in Kulgam on Tuesday to express their sympathies.
Choudhary said they were sent by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was busy with Assembly proceedings in Jammu.
“Two lives have been lost, and another person is missing. The CM sent me, Minister Sakina Itoo, and his advisor Nasir Aslam Wani to visit the family and share their grief. He could not come as he was busy with assembly proceedings. He told us to visit the family and ask them what they want,” Choudhary told reporters in Kulgam.
He announced that the government would hold a judicial inquiry into the killings.
“We cannot bring back those who have left, but we have told them (the family), the Deputy Commissioner (Kulgam), and the Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir Range), who were also here, that we will hold a judicial inquiry into it,” the Deputy CM said.
He added that the government had provided some ex-gratia relief to the family.
“(Minister) Itoo has announced that three women (wives) would be engaged as helpers. The government will help them in every possible way,” he said.
Choudhary emphasised that the visit was purely to express sympathies with the family, and no politics was involved.
“We haven’t come here for politics. Abdullah sent us to express sympathies. We have come to share their grief and express our condolences,” he said.
Earlier, the Deputy CM said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha should intervene and see why the deaths were taking place, as “the police are under him.”
