Minor boy's disfigured body found in J&K’s Kupwara 3 days after going missing

Srinagar: Disfigured body of a minor boy was recovered in frontier Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, three days after he went missing, prompting the police to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the matter, an official said on Friday. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has termed the act as "savage beyond imagination".

The body of Umar Farooq, 10, a resident of Gulgam area of Kupwara district in north Kashmir, was found Thursday evening, a police official said.

Umar had gone missing on Monday and his disappearance had triggered protests in the area. The official said police had made efforts to trace him right after he went missing. He said the police have constituted the SIT to investigate the disappearance and the brutal murder of the minor boy.

"A SIT, to be headed by the additional superintendent of police (ASP) Kupwara and supervised by the district senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kupwara, has been constituted to investigate it," the official said. He said police have sought the cooperation of the general public for completion of the investigation.

Describing the murder as "really painful", the Jammu and Kashmir police chief has assured that the case would be worked out very soon. "SIT constituted for child's murder in Kupwara. We shall work out this case soon. I have confidence in my team," J & K DGP S P Vaid said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the former chief minister, Mehbooba, said the act should shake the faith of the society.

"The charred and disfigured body of a ten-year-old minor found in Kupwara is savage beyond imagination. If this doesn't shake the faith of our society what will?" she posted on Twitter.

National Conference (NC) president and Member of Parliament Farooq Abdullah expressed grief over the minor's killing and demanded a high-level inquiry.

A party spokesman said Abdullah has demanded a high-level probe into the disappearance and the mysterious murder of the minor so that facts of the case are brought before the public.

Many areas in Kupwara remained shut on Friday as a mark of protest while some areas witnessed protests by the people, even as authorities closed down a few colleges in the district for the day as a precautionary measure.