Tension gripped Shopian on Wednesday after a member of a group spearheading the agitation against the rape and murder of two young women in May was found dead, with the valley town observing a complete shutdown.
The body of Mohammad Hussain Zargar (42), an activist of Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MM) who was missing since Saturday, was found in an orchard on Tuesday evening in Shopian, 52 km from here.
Government offices and educational institutions remained closed and business activities came to a standstill in the town on Wednesday after MM gave a bandh call demanding a probe into Zargar’s death.
ADVERTISEMENT
The outfit demanded that a post-mortem be conducted by a team of doctors from Srinagar.
Locals said Zargar, who was very active during the Shopian agitation to press for action against culprits involved in the rape and murder of Asiya and Neelofar, left his home on September 5 around 11 AM and since then he was untraceable.
His family had lodged a missing report with the police.
ADVERTISEMENT
People staged demonstrations on Tuesday in the town demanding that Zargar be traced but dispersed after an assurance from the police. After the body was recovered around 5.30 PM, people again took to streets.
The MM refused a post-mortem by local doctors citing the alleged fudging of evidence in Asiya and Neelofar case.
“We demand that the post-mortem be conducted by a team of doctors of Srinagar,” its spokesman Mohammad Shafi Khan said.