Thousands attend armyman Aurangzeb's last rites in Poonch, chant slogans and demand end to militancy

Thousands of mourners thronged Poonch village of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, as the mortal remains of Indian Army rifleman Aurangzeb reached his native village for the last rites to be conducted.

#BREAKING -- Aurangzeb Khan's last rites in Poonch. India salutes rifleman Aurangzeb. Thousands turn up for the funeral | @islahmufti with more details pic.twitter.com/kZLqivYpfO

— News18 (@CNNnews18) June 16, 2018

Aurangzeb was abducted and killed by militants on Friday when he was on his way home to celebrate Eid with his family. His body was recovered later in the day from the neighbouring Gusoo village of Pulwama. [caption id=“attachment_4522661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Armyman Aurangzeb was killed in Kashmir on Friday. News18[/caption] He was laid to rest with full state honours on Friday evening. Large number of locals had been thronging his house since Friday, ANI reported. Slogans like ‘Shaheed Aurangzeb amar rahe’ were being chanted through Friday and Saturday, it added. Speaking to the media, Aurangzeb’s father Mohammad Hanif said he wants the governments to “eliminate militancy”. “My son has abided by his pledge, he has kept his promise. He sacrificed himself for the nation and came back to me. I request the central and state governments to eliminate militancy,” Hanif was quoted as saying by ANI. Aurangzeb belonged to the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and was posted with the 44 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Shadimarg in Shopian. He was part of the team involved in the encounter of dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sameer Tiger. Aurangzeb was killed a day after veteran Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Srinagar. Union home minister Rajnath Singh is deliberating whether to extend or call off the Ramzan ceasefire that is due to end on the occasion of Eid on Saturday. With inputs from PTI