SRINAGAR: Police in Indian Kashmir said Monday they had registered a murder case and suspended three officers following the death of a 28-year old man in custody.

Nazim Rashid, a shopkeeper, was detained by counter-insurgency police on Saturday in the northern town of Sopore. He was declared dead early Sunday, with no reason provided as to the cause.

“We have suspended three policemen in whose custody the man was,” a police officer, part of the investigations, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah promised “swift and exemplary action”in a Twitter post on Sunday.

“It is a gross human rights violation and inexcusable. Things like this cannot be allowed to happen,” he said.

The police officer said a murder case had been registered and an autopsy conducted to determine the cause of death.

Rashid's father, who saw the body, said it had torture marks.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed across Sopore, where tensions remained high with a general strike in force for the second day running Monday, police and witnesses said.

Last year more than 110 people were killed when police and security forces opened fire during a series of demonstrations triggered by the death of a 17-year-old youth who was hit by a police teargas shell.

Last week there were protests against the alleged rape of a woman by soldiers.

Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan, with the Indian-administered sector hit by a more than two-decade insurgency against New Delhi's rule that has left more than 47,000 people dead.