The bodies of three young men were found in an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district today, which led to protests.
The bodies of three young men were found in an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district today, which led to protests and major traffic disruptions.
According to police sources, the bodies, found in the Pattan area, had bullet and torture marks.
The men were between 17 and 21, say the police. One of them has been identified as Amir Ahmed, a resident of Sopore, who had been missing since July 15.
Police sources believe he belonged to the Lashkar e Islami, a splinter group of the Hizbul Mujahideen blamed for the attacks on mobile towers in July.
The recovery of the bodies by locals led to protests and stone-throwing in parts of Pattan. The Baramullah road was shut and cars were forced to turn back to Srinagar, which led to massive traffic jams.
Students from local colleges also came out on the roads to join protests.
The police say the three may have been killed in some other area and dumped in Pattan.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called for proper autopsy to establish how the men died.
"A credible, transparent post-mortem is essential to ensure those trying to fish in troubled waters are unable to," Mr Abdullah said in a tweet.