Missing Kashmiri youth found unconscious

Srinagar, July 4: A 17-year-old boy was found in an unconscious state near his village in south Kashmir late Saturday, almost a week after he was arrested by the army.

Basharat Ahmad was picked up by the army in Larkipora village of Anantnag district last Sunday for questioning. Since then his whereabouts were unknown even though the army unit had asserted that he was released within hours.

"Basharat was found by villagers in an unconscious state in Jayebal village late this evening," a police officer said

"He has been shifted to the Anantnag district hospital,"the officer said here.

His disappearance had triggered massive protests and shutdown in Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had stated that the administration would leave no stone unturned in finding the fate of the missing youth.

The recovery of the youth has come as a respite for the state government which is already facing a tough situation in the neighbouring Shopian district where the rape and murder of two women has snowballed into massive protests.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Saturday ordered that an inspector general of police should supervise the special investigating team (SIT) probing the case.

The division bench of the high court has also said that the post-mortem of the two women had not been properly done.

State Chief Justice Barin Ghosh, who is part of the division bench hearing a public interest litigation regarding the case, has said that the exhumation of the bodies of could be done with the consent of the relatives for DNA sampling, which now remained the only means to collect evidence.

The high court also ordered narco-analysis of the four officials including the former district police chief of Shopian who had allegedly destroyed evidence in the case.

--IANS