Police said the men died in "crossfire" during a shootout inside a commercial complex in Srinagar but families said they were civilians and accused security forces of murdering the pair in "cold blood".
The family members of Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudassir Ahmed – both killed in a controversial armed encounter – had assembled in Srinagar, demanding the police hand over the bodies.
Mohammad Altaf Bhat was not affiliated with militants as claimed by the police who shot him in Srinagar on Monday, his niece Saima Bhat has said.
The Kashmir Press Club has repeatedly urged the Indian government to allow them to report freely, saying security agencies were using physical attacks, threats and summons to intimidate journalists and muzzle the press.
Most of the communication channels, including cell phones and mobile internet, have been suspended in the disputed region. New Delhi anticipated public unrest in light of Kashmiri seperatist Syed Ali Geelani's demise.
Indian authorities impose harsh clampdown after Geelani – an icon of disputed Kashmir's resistance against Indian rule and a leader who became emblem of region's defiance against New Delhi – died late on Wednesday.
The killings come during an intensified government offensive against militants in India-administered Kashmir.
Police in India-administered Kashmir allegedly threaten businesses of consequences if they observe a strike called by a top pro-freedom leader on August 5, the second anniversary of India's annexation of Muslim-majority region.
Senior government official says there's no ban on sacrificing animals during Islamic holiday Eid al Adha after ruckus over a government order that asked law enforcers to stop sacrifice of cows, calves, camels and other animals.
Suspected rebels fatally shoot police officer, his wife and their daughter in India-administered Kashmir, authorities say, while two more drones fly over military base and a gun battle rages in main Srinagar city.
Dominated by strategic concerns for two decades, the relationship appears to be caught between US policy drift towards India and its new ‘Cold War’ with Beijing.
Mushtaq Ahmed Wani and six others were charged under harsh anti-terror law in the annexed region after Indian soldiers fatally shot his 16-year-old son and denied him a proper funeral.
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