"The high court has ordered exhumation of the bodies for fresh post mortem and collection of DNA samples," Mian Qayoom, the president of Kashmir bar association told reporters.

However, the court has ordered that prior consent of the family be sought before the bodies are exhumed.

The high court has intervened in the case after being petitioned by the bar association.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has witnessed a series of protests since the deaths last month of two young women who, local residents say, were raped and murdered by members of the Indian security forces.

The protests over the incident have left two people dead and over 400 others injured so far.

On Saturday, the high court also directed that the four police officers who have been suspended for destroying evidence be subjected to drugs tests.

"The court has issued instructions for a similar test for two key witnesses in the case," Qayoom said.

The court has also directed the police's special investigating team to prepare a list of security forces and civilians who live in or were present at the "area of occurrence" on the day the 17-year old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law were allegedly gang raped and killed.

The court has also directed the police to trace nomads who had pitched their tents near the scene, but disappeared before the bodies were found.

The incident has shut the town of Shopian, where the crime took place, since the bodies were recovered on May 30.

A judicial investigation ordered by the chief Minister Omar Abdullah has failed to cool tempers.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.