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Updated: Dec 12, 2018 09:59 IST

The body of a man was found buried in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Tuesday after he was abducted in October following the death of ten people, including civilians, in a gunfight and explosion in his house in the district.

Police said they recovered the body of Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat, believed to be in his thirties, from an orchard near Awhatoo village of Kulgam after three overground workers (OGWs) allegedly working for militants disclosed the information on their questioning.

“The preliminary post-mortem findings of the deceased suggest bullet wounds and torture marks on his body parts,” said Kulgam’s senior superintendent of police Harmeet Singh in a statement.

Bhat, a resident of Laroo Kulgam, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on October 27 a week after a gun battle between militants and security forces and subsequent explosion of “stray explosives” in his house claimed the lives of 10 people, including seven civilians who had rushed to the site after the killing of three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants.

Singh said their investigation reveals Bhat was kidnapped and killed by militants before brutally torturing him with the help of their aides.

“The trio along with some other OGWs were very much active in the whole planning of killing along with active local and foreign terrorists of JeM and HM (Hizbul Mujahideen) outfit respectively,” the SSP said.

The official said they have recovered one of the vehicles used in the crime on the disclosure of the OGWs. He said police are now in the process of making more arrests and subsequent disclosures are also expected in the case.

Such killings have been on the rise in the valley.

A former special police officer was abducted and killed by suspected militants in Shopian district on November 23. Two other abducted men were, however, released unharmed but police found Basharat Ahmad’s body from Nikloora in Pulwama.

A week before that two out of the seven civilians abducted by suspected militants in the district were found killed. An 18-year-old was shot dead on November 15 and a 19-year-old was found with his throat slit on November 17 as Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo issued an audio threat against police and army informers.