Srinagar: The bodies of three persons killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Army in Shopian district of south Kashmir in July this year will be exhumed and handed over to their families after the due process of law, a senior police officer said here on Wednesday.
“Since the DNA samples (of the deceased) have matched with family, the three bodies will be exhumed and handed over to families after due process of law,” Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said.
The statement comes amid persistent demand from the families, seeking bodies of the trio— Abrar Ahmed (25), Imtiyaz Ahmed (20) and Mohammed Ibrar (16) —and immediate arrest along with stern punishment to those behind the killings.
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 in Amshipura.
The families of the three men from Rajouri who worked as labourers in Shopian had also filed a police complaint.
The Army completed a probe on September 18 and said it has found “prima facie” evidence that its troops “exceeded” powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during the encounter and has initiated disciplinary proceedings.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said that the inquiry had found that the “Do’s and Don’ts of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) as approved by the Supreme Court have been contravened”. “Consequently, the competent disciplinary authority has directed to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Army Act against those found prima-facie answerable,” he had said.
The police also launched its investigations and collected the DNA samples of the families to match with those killed.
Last week, the police said the samples have matched with the families from Rajouri and further investigation in the case was going on.
