Amshipora fake encounter: Process to exhume, handover of bodies to be completed soon: DGP
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh on Friday said the legal process to exhume and hand over the bodies of three persons from Rajouri who were killed in an alleged fake encounter by Army in Shopian district of south Kashmir in July would be completed soon.
“The process is on. We have started whatever legal process has to be undertaken and this process will be completed soon,” the Director General of Police (DGP) told reporters when asked when the bodies would be handed over to their families.
On September 30, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said since the DNA samples matched with the families, the three bodies will be exhumed and handed over to families after due process of law.
On July 18, the Army claimed three militants were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
However, the Army initiated an inquiry after social media reports indicated the three men were from Rajouri district in Jammu and had gone missing at Amshipura.
The families of the three men from Rajouri who worked as labourers in Shopian had also filed a police complaint.
The Army completed the probe in a record four weeks and on September 18, it said it has found “prima facie” evidence that its troops “exceeded” powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act during the encounter and has initiated disciplinary proceedings.
The police also launched its investigations and collected the DNA samples of the families to match with the slain persons.
The DGP said that militancy related incidents have gone down in the Union Territory and the overall law and order has considerably improved compared to past few years.
“The improvement in situation is because of the fact that youth of Kashmir understood the futility of violence and violent actions. Today, our youth are shining in civil services at both UT and All India levels. Our youth are taking part in sports activities at J&K, national and international levels,” he said.
To a query about the use of artilleries on the LoC in Poonch and Kupwara, he said that “our neighbour is victim of violence itself but it still continues to promote violence.” “Unfortunately, we lost three soldiers yesterday in CFVs at Poonch and Jammu. Our forces are giving a befitting a reply.”(with inputs from PTI)
Press Trust of India
