Deaths of 2 men in Kathua being probed: CM

Jammu, Feb 17 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday expressed grief over the mysterious deaths of two men in a remote village in Kathua district and said he has asked the concerned officers to probe the matter.

Bodies of Roshan Lal, 45, and Shamsher, 37, were retrieved from the banks of a stream in Batheri village in Billawar on Sunday and preliminary information revealed that the deceased had been strangulated to death.

“Deeply anguished by the tragic death of two persons at Billawar, Kathua. My thoughts and prayers are with their families during this difficult time. My office is in touch with the local MLA and the concerned officers have been asked to investigate the cause of these deaths,” Abdullah wrote on X.

Station House Officer of Billawar Police Station, Jitender Singh, said police had already registered a murder case in the incident and further investigations are on to bring the culprits to book.

He said a terror angle in the case cannot be ruled out.

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