Pooch ambush: Compensation, jobs for kin of slain civilians

Army personnel during a cordon and search operation in Poonch. Pic/PTI

J&K administration on Saturday announced compensation and jobs to the kin of the three civilians who were found dead in Poonch district, as a massive search operation was underway to track down terrorists behind the recent ambush on two Army vehicles that left five soldiers dead.

The three men, aged between 27 and 42, were found dead under "mysterious circumstances" on Friday. Their relatives and political leaders, however, alleged that they were among the eight people picked up by the Army for questioning in connection with Thursday's ambush. They also alleged that four others were admitted to a government hospital with "torture injuries".

The bodies of the civilians were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard in Bufliaz on Saturday afternoon, the officials said. As the search operation was underway and the situation remained tense, the authorities suspended mobile Internet services in Poonch and the neighbouring Rajouri district as a precautionary measure to check rumour-mongering and prevent any law and order problem, officials said.

In a post on X, the Information and PR department of the Union Territory said, "The death of three civilians was reported yesterday in Baffliaz of Poonch District. The medico legal formalities were conducted and legal action in this matter has been initiated by the appropriate authority." "The government has announced compensation for each of the deceased. Further, it has also announced compassionate appointments to the next of kin of each deceased," it stated.

Sources said the bodies of three slain civilians - Safeer Hussain, 43, Mohd Showket, 27, and Shabir Ahmad, 32, of Topa Peer village of Bufliaz - were handed over to their families after a postmortem on Saturday morning.

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