An Army officer with the rank of Major has been found guilty in the murder of three Rajouri workers, which security forces initially claimed were terrorists, in the Shopian district of J&K in July this year, The Indian Express has learned.
All three, one of them 16, had gone to the Valley from their hometown of Rajouri in search of work. They were killed in Amshipora, a village in the Shopian district, in the early hours of July 18.
In September, a Court of Investigation found prima facie evidence that “the powers conferred by AFSPA 1990 were exceeded” and that “what should and should not be done by the Chief of Staff of the Army (COAS) approved by the Honorable Supreme Court have been violated ”.
The Summary of Evidence that followed was completed last week, and found that the Major should be tried in various sections.
The Evidence Summary recommendations were sent to Lt. Gen. YK Joshi, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, sources told The Indian Express. The next step in the process is a court martial.
A Defense spokesman said Thursday: “The ‘evidence summary’ registration process has been completed. The same is being examined by the competent authorities in consultation with legal advisers to move forward.
Indian Army is committed to the ethical conduct of operations. More details will be shared in a way that does not undermine procedures under Army law. “
The room where the three men last stayed is still empty, save for two blankets lying crumpled on the floor. (Express photo: Naveed Iqbal)
The Amshipora incident took place in the early hours of July 18. A commander and two soldiers from 62 Rashtriya rifles formed the initial encounter group, and were later reinforced by police teams from J&K and CRPF.
On July 19, the RR 12 Sector Commander held a press conference to announce that three terrorists had been killed in the encounter, which had taken place after a cordon and search operation in Amshipora at “specific entrance” to the unit. 62 RR on the presence of terrorists in the town.
The Army gave a detailed account stating that the security forces had been fired upon, that there was an exchange of shots and that during the recovery of the bodies, weapons, ammunition and IED material were found in the hideout.
This version began to unravel when a family in Rajouri filed a missing person report in August about three of their relatives, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohd Ibrar, who had traveled to Kashmir to seek employment in July and were in contact with them. via mobile phones until July 16. The family had not been able to communicate with them since then.
According to the family, they had seen photographs of the bodies from the encounter and identified them as their three missing members.
This caused an uproar in the Valley, as well as Rajouri and the Gujjar community. The army established an investigative court, while the police carried out their own investigation.
The men had been buried in a cemetery in Baramulla, where unidentified militants suspected of having infiltrated from Pakistan are buried. Their bodies they were exhumed in October for DNA tests, which confirmed the family’s claims.
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