The pledge came a week after authorities began a probe into the death of a carpenter allegedly shot in a "false encounter" with police in Kashmir, where an Islamic separatist revolt has been raging since 1989.

The victim, Abdul Rahman Padder, was reportedly detained in the summer capital Srinagar in December 2006. He was killed and later described by police as a Pakistani militant.

"It is the government's firm resolve to deal with an iron hand with those policemen responsible for killing of innocents just for getting promotions or rewards," Indian Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

His statements came as police exhumed a second body from a graveyard in Gandherbal, 30km northwest of Srinagar, as thousands of villagers shouted, "Down with police," an AFP photographer said.