Locals from Apple town Sopore Thursday staged a protest demanding exemplary punishment for those arrested accused who after abducting young goldsmith threw his body into the river. Pertinently, Tariq Ahmed, the goldsmith in Sopore who had been missing since December 26 according to police has been murdered after abduction. Hailing from Kalaroos area of Kupwara district, the young goldsmith was running a jewellery shop in apple town Sopore. The police have already arrested four persons Sajad Lara son of Afzal Lara, Mohammad Adil Lara son of Afzal Lara residents, Ghulam Mohammed Lara son of Ghulam Qadir Lara and Nayeem Lara son of Ghulam Mohammed Lara, all residents of Ashpeer Sopore for their involvement in the crime. The accused according to police have confessed that after abducting Tariq Ahmed, they first strangulated him, looted gold and threw his body in the river.The protesting locals here in North Kashmir town demanded the body of the goldsmith should be retrieved at an earliest. “If Police claims he has been murdered and his body has been thrown into the river, why it doesn’t make efforts to recover the body,” the protesters said adding that relatives of the deceased have been spending money from their own pocket to expert divers to recover the body. They urged upon police and district administration to make all efforts in retrieving the body of goldsmith. (CNS)