Family members of a teenager and his two uncles whose mysterious deaths had triggered outrage in March and were blamed on militants by a BJP Union minister began an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday, alleging government failure to crack the case and deliver justice.
The protesting family members said the case should be handed over to the CBI or the National Investigation Agency for an impartial probe.
Varun Singh, 15, his uncle Yogesh Singh, 32, and maternal uncle Darshan Singh, 40, had gone missing in March while on their way to a wedding. Their bodies were recovered from a waterfall in Ishu Nallah in remote Malhar three days later.
Their deaths had sparked outrage in Jammu and escalated communal rhetoric as they came amid a spate of killings — of both Hindus and Muslims — in Kathua district of Jammu.
Dozens of Kathua residents joined the protests against the alleged police failure to solve the case, while some family members sat on a hunger strike. “I will sacrifice my life if I get no concrete answer. The clothes you see on my body will be my shroud. It is my last decision. I will either get justice or sacrifice my life,” Varun’s father Chamail Singh told reporters.
"The SIT constituted for the probe has produced no results. We have knocked on every door, from the local police station to the office of the inspector-general, but there has been no justice," he said.