NEW DELHI, 19 November 2021, (TON): Authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) ordered a probe into the killing of two men during a security operation, after police violently broke up a protest demanding the bodies be returned to their families.

Police said that the men died in "crossfire" during a shootout inside a commercial complex in Srinagar, the disputed region's main city.

Their families said that they were civilians and accused security forces of murdering the pair in "cold blood" denying police claims that the pair were associated with separatists.

Manoj Sinha, a New Delhi appointee serving as IIOJK's top administrator, said that the government would take "suitable action" as soon as a report into Monday's incident was completed.

The deaths of Mohammad Altaf Bhat and Mudasir Ahmed Gul sparked outrage in the territory, where around three dozen civilians have been killed this year.

Bhat owned the building where Monday's incident took place, while Gul was a tenant in the complex running a real estate business. Two freedom fighters also died in the encounter.

Police raided a candlelight vigil in Srinagar staged by family members demanding the pair's bodies be returned for a proper Islamic burial.

The sit-in protest had been underway since Wednesday morning, despite biting winter cold, but electricity was cut in the area around midnight and several people were bundled into an armoured vehicle.