Tanvir’s body arrives in Batamaloo, thousands attended funeral

Thousands of mourners on Wednesday accompanied the body of Sheikh Tanvir Sultan from his residence in Bemina towards the martyrs’ graveyard in Batmaloo.

Tanvir was killed in a shooting in Kud area of Udhampur district of Jammu on Monday.

Witnesses said that thousands of people, mostly youths, accompanied the body towards the graveyard where Tanvir elder brother, who was a militant commander, is buried as well.

The mourners, according to witnesses, were shouting slogans in favour of Kashmir’s freedom and Islam.

Police and paramilitary forces, they said, have deployed in strength in the area to prevent large-scale protests.

On Tuesday, the government said that Tanvir was a militant and that he was killed in a shoot-out with police and paramilitary forces.

His family has refuted the government claims by saying that Tanvir was innocent and that he was travelling to Amritsar for medical check-up.

Tanveer’s older brother, Sheikh Gowher Sultan was also killed by forces in 1994.

According to family sources Tanveer was arrested in 2004 on militancy charges. After his release, he was living a normal life.

Tanveer was an engineering student at SSM in 1997 who had left his course in middle of the session after developing health problems.