Protests erupted in parts of old Srinagar on Sunday after body of a businessman was flown in from Mumbai where he died mysteriously last week.
While police said that they were in touch with their counterparts in Mumbai to know the details about his death, the separatists have alleged that he has been "murdered" for his Kashmiri identity. Parvez Ahmad Teli, left for Mumbai on July 2 but his family members lost contact with him on July 6. "His aggrieved brother flew to Mumbai on July 8 where police led him to a hospital to identify a body, which was Teli's", a relative said.
He said there were visible marks of torture on Teli's body. Deputy Inspector General Police (central Kashmir) Afhadul Mujtaba said that they were in touch with Mumbai police to ascertain the cause of death. Teli had ventured out of his place in Mumbai to fetch cigarettes for his cousin but never returned, relatives said. Hundreds of people came out on streets and a spontaneous shutdown was observed in Qalamdanpora locality when the body reached there. The protestors shouting "pro-freedom" slogans alleged that Teli has been murdered.
Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq termed Teli's death as unfortunate and alleged that Kashmiri youths were being subjected to worst kind of torture. Demanding a fair probe in the death he said, "J&K Government has failed on all fronts to safeguard Kashmiris. Our youth in other States are unsafe," he said.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani termed the death as handiwork of intelligence agencies or communal elements. "This is the third such incident in 2013, where a Kashmiri youth has died mysteriously in a State of India", Geelani said in a statement. "The deceased youth sported a beard and was a devout Muslim. There is a serious apprehension that he was murdered by intelligence agencies or communal goons," Geelani alleged.