The family of a civilian killed during a gunfight in Srinagar on Monday has refuted the police’s claims that he was associated with militants, The Kashmir Walla reported.

The man, Mohammad Altaf Bhat, ran a hardware shop near the site of the gunfight in the city’s Hyderpora area.

Bhat’s niece alleged that he was murdered by the police, The Kashmir Walla reported.

“He was used as a human shield in a staged encounter,” Saima Bhat alleged. “He runs a hardware shop and owns the complex where the forces had come for checking. There was no gunfight in that complex. He was taken three times as human shield for checking and when they couldn’t find anything, he was killed there.”

On Monday, the police and the security forces had launched an anti-militancy operation in Hyderpora, PTI reported. Two suspected militants were killed during the operation.

In a tweet, the Kashmir Zone Police claimed that the militants had been hiding in a building belonging to Bhat.

“The house owner who was injured in terrorist fire, succumbed to his injuries,” the police said. “As per source and digital evidence, he has been working as [a] terror associate.”

Saima Bhat, the deceased man’s niece, said the police did not hand over his body to the family. They staged a protest at midnight at the Barazulla bridge in Srinagar. “But nobody is paying heed to our cries,” Bhat told The Kashmir Walla.

In a tweet, she said: “You [the police] killed my innocent uncle Mohammad Altaf Bhat in cold-blooded murder. In Hyderpora, you used him as human shield and now saying he was ‘OGW’ [over ground worker]. Return us his body.”

Reacting to the tweet, the Peoples Democratic Party said the allegations levelled by Bhat’s family are serious and warranted a speedy investigation. “The least Jammu and Kashmir Police could do is handover the dead body to the family for a decent burial,” the party said. “Are even dead ones a threat to peace now?”