Srinagar: After more than a month since he was buried near the Line of Control (LoC) in Tunga Top forest area of Kachama in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, the body of a militant from Barzulla, Mudasir Ahmad Bhat was exhumed by the authorties and handed over to the relatives.

Bhat was killed in a gunfight with government forces in Kachama forests on June 29.

A government official, who was not authorized to speak to the press, said that the body was exhumed after DNA samples of the slain militant matched with those claiming to be his relatives.

“The body of Mudasir Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Ahmad Bhat of Nasti Mohalla Old Barzulla, Srinagar was exhumed at 04:40 pm Tuesday from the NK Gali Jumgund forests and handed over to his legal heirs,” the official said.

The official said that family members of the slain militant, who had come to Kupwara to be present during exhumation, included his father, brother and other few persons.

Mudasir’s father Ghulam Ahmad Bhat said they had come to Kupwara to take the body.

“We may reach back to Barzullah late tonight and will properly bury the body as soon as possible,” he said.

The body of the slain militant was exhumed after his family submitted an application before the District Magistrate Kupwara, claiming the dead militant was their relative.

They had come to know that Bhat had died during an encounter after pictures of his body emerged in the local press and social media.

The family also provided DNA samples as part of the procedure for establishing the identity.

The DNA report was received by the administration on Monday and the family was subsequently informed.

On June 29, the army had claimed to have killed an unidentified militant in an encounter at Tunga Top forest area of Kachama. The slain was buried NK Gali area of Jumgund forests.

As per reports, the family was informed by some anonymous caller that the youth killed in Tunga Top forest area of Kachama in Kupwara was their kin.

The slain Mudasir went missing in 2016 and the family reportedly feigned ignorance about his joining the militant ranks. (GNS)