Death in custodyOne of those killed during the period was Rizwan Pandit, the school principal who died in police custody. Pandit “appears to have been tortured while in custody”, the July 8 report from the UN’s human rights agency said. Days after Pandit’s death in March, 12-year old Atif Mir was taken hostage allegedly by militants in Bandipora, , along with six other relatives. The two hostage-takers were unwilling to release Mir, despite repeated pleas from the family and troops that surrounded the house, relatives said. A second Indian security official familiar with operations in Kashmir said troops were suffering heavy casualties due to increasing fearlessness from the youth.

Source: The Express Tribune July 19, 2019 18:33 UTC