Srinagar: The Indian army admitted on Friday that its troops killed three young men working as day laborers in an apple orchard in July this year. The three young workers from the Rajouri border district disappeared shortly after coming to Shopian to earn a living.
The army said that an investigation by him showed that the killings were carried out by his troops during an “operation.”
He said “disciplinary measures” were being initiated under the Army Law against the officers and soldiers involved in the operation.
The investigation “yielded certain prima facie evidence indicating that during the operation the powers conferred by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1990 were exceeded and what the Army Chief of Staff should and should not do ( COAS) approved by the Honorable Supreme Court have been infringed, “said the Army.
However, he added that “the involvement of the murdered men in terrorism or related activities is being investigated by the J&K police.”
According to the families of the three workers, Muhammad Imtiaz, Abrar Ahmed Khan and Abrar Yusuf were killed by troops in a mock encounter in the Amshipora area on July 18.
The night before, the three men had informed their respective families by phone that they had arrived at the Shopian, where they had been hired by a local fruit grower to work in his apple orchard.
After their murders, the army posed them as “terrorists.”
Earlier this month, the families accused the J&K Army and Police of wasting their time in separately ordered investigations into the “disappearance.” In a letter to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, they requested his intervention in the matter.
They also demanded that an impartial and fair investigation be carried out, that the DNA reports be made public and, if it is established that their relatives are the same young people who were killed in the alleged July 18 meeting in Amshipora, they be allowed exhume their bodies so that the victims receive a decent burial for them.
Sinha, while speaking to reporters here on September 14, assured that justice would be done for the families of the murdered youths. She had said: “The Army has ordered its own investigation and the administration is conducting its own investigation. I want to make sure that justice will be served. “
Police Director General Dilbag Singh said Thursday that DNA reports in the case would be made public soon.
DNA samples from the missing youth’s parents and siblings were collected from Rajouri under the auspices of the J&K Police in August and subsequently sent to match the trio killed on July 18.
Defense spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said here on Friday that the Army-ordered investigation into Operation Amshipora has concluded. He said that since the investigation has yielded certain prima facie evidence that indicates that during the operation the powers conferred by AFSPA 1990 were exceeded and the Do’s and No’s of the Chief of the Army, approved by the Supreme Court, the competent disciplinary authority, were contravened. The authority has ordered the initiation of “disciplinary procedures under the Army Law against those who prima facie respond.”
He added that “the evidence gathered by the investigation has indicated prima facie that the three unidentified terrorists killed in Operation Amshipora were Muhammad Imtiaz, Abrar Ahmed Khan and Abrar Yusuf, who hailed from Rajouri. Their DNA report is awaited. Their involvement in terrorism or related activities are being investigated by the police. ”
He further said that “the Indian military is committed to the ethical conduct of operations. Further updates on the case will be given periodically without affecting due process of law.”
Last month, Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for an investigation and prosecution of the alleged extrajudicial execution of the three workers by independent civilian authorities, saying that the civil investigations and trials “offer a degree of transparency and independence lacking in military justice ”. Several political parties and human rights activists at J&K also demanded an impartial investigation into the alleged organized gathering.
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