6-member SIT formed to probe double murder in Kathua

JAMMU: A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a superintendent of police was constituted Wednesday to probe the recent murder of two men in a remote village in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Bodies of Roshan Lal, 45, and Shamsher, 37, were retrieved from the banks of a stream in Batheri village in Billawar on February 16. The postmortem report of the bodies revealed that they had been strangled to death.

Police have not ruled out terrorist involvement in the double murder so far. A joint anti-terrorist operation by police, army and paramilitary forces is also underway in the nearby forests over the past couple of days.

However, any breakthrough has eluded the investigators till date, the officials said, expressing confidence that the setting up of the SIT will speed up the probe.

On February 17, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had expressed his anguish over the tragic death of two persons and said his office is in touch with the local MLA while the concerned officers have been asked to investigate the cause of these deaths.

Last year, several parts of Kathua, including Billawar, witnessed terror activities including an attack on an army patrol that left five soldiers dead.