Srinagar: The body of a militant from Bandipora was exhumed on Saturday evening, more than two months after burial in Rajwar area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Three militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Warpora area of Sopore on February 22 this year and all of them were buried on February 24.

An official of the administration said that the permission for exhumation of the body was granted today after DNA sample of the slain militant matched with those claiming to be his kin. He according to his family has been identified as Rameez Ahmad Mir of Bandipora.

 “The body of Rameez Ahmad Mir son of Ghulam Rasool of Qazipora Bandipora was exhumed today late in the afternoon from the graveyard of Wader Balla forests in Rajwar and handed over to his legal heirs,” the official said.

Family sources of slain Rameez also confirmed that the body has been exhumed and taken over by them.

 “The body was completely decomposed due to seeping of water in the graveyard. We have received the body and would be buried at the ancestral graveyard,” they said.

The exhumation of the body followed submission of an application by the family before the concerned District Magistrate Kupwara after they saw pictures of Rameez through social media and later at the concerned police station.

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

The DNA report was received by the authorities last evening and the family was subsequently informed on Saturday morning.

On February 22, the army had claimed to have killed three unidentified militants in an encounter at Warpora area of Sopore. The slain militants were later buried at Wader Balla. (GNS)