India, April 7 -- Family members and villagers appeared before an inquiry officer at Ganderbal police station on Monday evening to record formal statements regarding the killing of 31-year-old Rashid Ahmad Mughal.

The move follows a magisterial probe ordered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on April 3 after the army's claim that Mughal was a militant killed in a forest encounter was met with local outrage and political condemnation. Sinha ordered that the probe must be completed within a week.

While the army reported the "neutralisation of a terrorist" during a joint operation at Arhama on April 1, they did not identify the deceased. This silence, coupled with the police's refusal to immediately validate the army's version, fuelled sc...