Minor boy laid to rest amid protests

Srinagar: The body of a minor boy, who was found murdered in a rented accommodation in Phagwara area of Punjab, was today laid to rest amid noisy demonstration by mourners who sought punishment to his killers.

11-year-old Irshad Ahmad Lone was reportedly found stabbed to death in a house in Phagwara yesterday when his father Javed Ahmad returned from work.

The boy was accompanying his father, who is a regular visitor to Punjab to sell woollen garments in winter.

Javed said yesterday he left in the morning for selling garments, leaving the boy behind in the rented room and when he returned from work he found him stabbed to death.

The funeral in Javed’s home town Handwara, 80 kms from here, in Kupwara district was attended by hundreds of people.

After attending the last rites, several of the mourners staged a demonstration pressing for immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the “cold-blooded” murder of the minor boy.