Shopian: Thousands of people on Tuesday turned up for the funeral of three militants killed in a gunfight with government forces in Gatipora village of Shopian last night.
Reports said that several rounds of funeral prayers were held to accommodate the huge rush of mourners who arrived in the ancestral villages of Zahid Mir, Irfan Ganai and Asif Pal in Ganawpora, Heff and Kathokalan villages respectively.
They said that militants appeared in the funeral of Ganai in Heff and offered a gun salute to the slain colleague.
Mourners shouted slogans in favour of Islam and Kashmir’s independence as the slain were laid to rest.
Mir and Pal were affiliated with the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outsit while Ganai belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba. The three were killed in a joint operation by army, SOG of Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF in Gatipora village last night.
Two AK-47 rifles and other ammunition was recovered from their possession.
