SRINAGAR: DNA samples from three men who died in an alleged fake encounter with the military in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in July matched their Rajouri families, a senior police officer said on Friday.
When asked if the three men were actually workers, as their families claimed, and not involved in terrorist activities, he said it is a matter of further investigation.
On July 18, the army had claimed that three terrorists were killed in the village of Amshipura in the higher reaches of Shopian, in southern Kashmir. He launched an investigation after social media reports indicated that the three men were from Rajouri and had disappeared in Amshipura.
The families of the three men claimed that they worked as day laborers at the Shopian and filed a police report.
Police also launched an investigation and collected DNA samples from the three Rajouri families to compare with the murdered men.
“The DNA report has arrived and the comparison has been made,” Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar told reporters.
When asked if he wanted to say that the DNA samples of the three men matched those of the Rajouri families, he said: “There is a positive match with the Rajouri families.”
On whether it had been established that the three men were workers and were not involved in any militant activity, Kumar said: “The police are now launching more investigations into the case.”
The Army completed its investigation into the matter in a record four weeks.
On September 18, the force said it had found “prima facie” evidence that its troops “exceeded” the powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during the encounter and had initiated a disciplinary process.
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