Srinagar: The Army on Wednesday issued an advertisement in local newspapers asking people to share “credible” inputs for its probe into the killing of three alleged militants in an encounter last month, following allegations by families in the Rajouri area of Jammu region that as many of their kin were missing from the same place.
“Any person having credible inputs or information on the encounter by security forces at village Amshipora, district Shopian, dated July 18, 2020 may please contact Deputy GOC (General Officer Command)…on telephone number 01933-247026 within the next 10 days. The identity and details of the person will be kept secret,” the advertisement issued by Lt Col Sonal Jain read.
Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said on Tuesday that the Army was “committed to ethical conduct of all counter-terrorist operations”.
“Cases where doubts are raised are investigated under due process as per the law of the land. Since the case is under investigation, further details will be shared periodically, as appropriate without affecting due legal process,” he had said.
The encounter took place on July 18 when the Army claimed to have killed three militants at Amshipora in the higher reaches of Shopian in south Kashmir.
However, little over two weeks thereafter, missing complaints were lodged in Rajouri area of Jammu region by the families of three youths, working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards, who had disappeared from the same region and they had last talked to them on July 17.
The Army has already instituted a high-level Court of Inquiry to probe the incident and statements of Army personnel were recorded on Tuesday, defences sources said.
DNA samples have been collected from Rajouri families by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and sent for matching with those of the alleged militants killed on July 18.
The relatives of three youths, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in Rajouri had lodged a written missing persons report at the local police station after they lost contact with them on July 17.
In their complaint, they informed the police that they had last spoken to the three on July 17 when the youths had informed their families that they had got a room at Ashimpora in Shopian.
The same place was the site of the encounter the next day and since then there has been no report about the three, the families said in their complaint.
Three boys, Mohammad Imtiyaz and Ibrar Ahmed, both residents of Kathuni Mohalla of Dharsakri village of Rajouri, and Mohammad Ibrar, a resident of Tarkassi village of Rajouri, left their homes to work as labourers in Kashmir’s Shopian and went out of contact with their families after July 17 late evening.
The father of Imtiyaz, one of the missing persons, was seen on social media pleading for a visit to Kashmir and exhuming the bodies of his son and others for a proper burial in Rajouri.
CITU moves NHRC seeking probe in Shopian encounter
Jammu: The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), an affiliate of the CPM, has moved the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking a probe into the recent killing of three “militants” in an alleged encounter in Shopian district.
It also advocated adequate compensation to the families of the deceased.
In a complaint to the NHRC, filed on Tuesday through Supreme Court advocate Subhash Chandran, CITU’s J&K unit general secretary Om Prakash expressed concern over the alleged questionable encounter last month.
The encounter took place on July 18 when the Army claimed to have killed three alleged militants at Amshipora in the higher reaches of Shopian in south Kashmir.
However, a little over two weeks thereafter, missing persons complaints were lodged in Rajouri area of Jammu region by the families of three youths, working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards, who had disappeared from the same region and could be last contacted by their families on July 17.
Om Prakash demanded a thorough investigation to bring out the factual aspects of the case.
Demanding the NHRC to direct authorities to produce the action taken report on the “human rights violation”, the petitioner also sought initiation of appropriate criminal as well as departmental action against those involved in the alleged encounter.
It also asked the NHRC to direct authorities to pay adequate compensation to the affected families.
