Four persons, including three GRP personnel, have been arrested in connection with the death of a youth whose throat-slit body was found in Peerbagh area of the city here last week and had triggered protests in the area.
The body of Owais Bashir Malik (20), a resident of Peerbagh was found on Thursday last near the local Railway Bridge.
"A Special Investigation Team was set up to investigate the case. During the probe, it came to light that Malik was in touch with Ishaan Majeed of Bandipora over phone for the last one year.
"Ishaan, who currently resides in Barzulla, had posed as a girl, Umaira of Wanbal-Nowgam. They would talk for hours, mostly at night.
"At times, Ishaan would also talk with the deceased's family members, including his sisters, and cousin Tanveer Ahmad Bhat," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Central Kashmir) G H Bhat told reporters here.
On January 12, Owais pressed for a meeting with Ishaan, who finally agreed after refusing for over a year.
"When they met at the railway track at Peerbagh, Ishaan told Owais it was he who was posing as Umaira. This led to a scuffle between the two," the officer said adding Ishaan severely beat up Owais, who fell into a nearby gorge.
Ishaan fled from the spot and left for his aunt's house in his hometown Bandipora, Bhat said.
The DIG said the culprit had seven SIM cards and he destroyed two of them with which he used to talk with Owais.
The probe found that a constable of Government Railway Police (GRP) did find some blood stains on the ground and notice a human body in the shallow waters down the track.
"However, he did not inform police and instead planned to dispose off the body to a place away from the track with his two colleagues," Bhat said adding the trio - Manzoor Ahmad, Mohammad Ayoub and Noor Mohammad - picked up the body and put it near the railway bridge.
They have also been arrested, he said.
