Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, May 18: The inhabitants of Phenter staged a demonstration at Phenter Chowk and blocked Dhar road in Billawar tehsil demanding probe into the death of a school boy Parikshat Badwal, son of Surjeet Singh Badwal whose body was found in the local river on May 8 and the cause of death was ascertained as drowning by the police.
Complete shutdown was observed in the area by irate people with Government offices and schools remaining closed as people protested against the police and accused it of hushing up the matter.
The protesters raising slogans did not allow any vehicle to pass and demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
Later ASP Kathua Khalil Poswal, SDPO Sukhdev Singh visited the area to ascertain the situation and restore the traffic on the road. However they failed to prevail upon the protesters to lift the road blockade. Bowing to the pressure of the people ASP announced constitution of Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of the boy.
The protestors alleged that the boy had not drowned in the water but was murdered and his body thrown into the river. They alleged that police under the influence of some people was trying to hush up the case.
The protest was led by former MLA Puran Singh and Sarpanch Surjit Singh.
The police has earlier registered a case under Section 174 to hush up the same. The protesters said that they have named the suspects and police should arrest them to ascertain the facts.
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