The mentally challenged youth killed in an alleged fake encounter in Poonch was a Muslim, a postmortem report revealed on Tuesday.
After he was killed on Sunday, security forces claimed he was Abu Usman, divisional commander of Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. Locals, however, refused to bury the body saying he was a Hindu as he had not been circumcised.
“The autopsy has confirmed that the man was a Muslim as he was circumcised. However, the circumcision was not conducted properly leading to the confusion,” said a senior police official on condition of anonymity.
Police are now waiting for the youth’s relatives to perform the last rites.
They have arrested a soldier of the Territorial Army and a Special Police Officer (SPO) for carrying out the fake encounter and misleading both the army and the state police. Defence minister AK Antony has directed the army to submit a detailed report.
“The minister has directed the army to submit a detailed report to him on the incident that took place on Sunday in Poonch," defence ministry sources said.