The bodies of alleged militants killed in a gunfight in Srinagar won't be returned to their families, said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar on Monday.
"In the case of militants or their associates, people get emotional and thousands come to attend the funeral. Since the novel coronavirus pandemic has not yet ended, we will have to use tear gas and pellets against those who will defy the COVID-19 protocols, for which we will be again criticised," the IGP said.
Three suspected militants were identified as Ajaz Maqbool Ganie, Ather Mushtaq from Pulwama and Zubair Lone from Shopian. They were killed in a gunfight with security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar on December 30. But the families of the deceased have claimed that they were innocent civilians.
Vijay Kumar also said that their involvement in militancy has been proved almost 60 per cent, The Hindu reported. "We will now convince their families. The bodies won't be returned," he said.
This he said while answering to one of the reporter's questions on whether the bodies of those killed in the alleged gunfight in Srinagar would be returned to their families or not?
He said that the three youth killed were militants and police will soon convince the parents of the trio with "concrete evidence."
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a road safety week function in Srinagar, the IGP Kumar said: "We will collect more evidence including the technical one and will first convince the parents of the slain trio that their sons were involved in militancy and were providing logistic support to militants."