Thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of militant commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat that took place on Sunday which was also the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. Bhat was killed in an encounter on Saturday in his native village of Ratsuna in Tral area. The mourners chanted anti-India and pro-freedom slogans while the dead body of the slain Hibzul Mujhaideen commander was being carried on the shoulders, angry young men fought with each other over who will carry the dead body for the funeral prayers.
Despite a strict curfew in the entire south Kashmir, thousands of people gathered to pay their last respect to the slain militant commander (Bhat). The streets leading to the native village of Sabzar, Ratsuna, were deserted as the state government, to avoid a large congregation of the people at the funeral, deployed thousands of forces and restricted the movement of people. But hundreds of them left their homes pre-dawn to attend his funeral prayers.