Indian Army Indicts Troops In J&K Encounter That Killed 3 Men, Orders Action

[Khan vilatey]

Indian army admits soldiers' wrongdoing in deaths of three Kashmiris in July

Soldiers deployed by New Delhi have long been accused of abusing their emergency powers in Kashmir. — Reuters/Files
SRINAGAR: The Indian army on Friday admitted that its soldiers exceeded their powers which led to the extra-judicial killings of three Kashmiri men in Shopian district of occupied Kashmir.
The three men — cousins — were killed during a so-called counterinsurgency operation on July 18 in the southern Kashmir valley, and buried in a remote border area.
Their families, who identified their bodies from pictures on social media, said they were innocent men and worked as labourers.
The incident generated outrage in Kashmir, with political groups, rights activists and many residents demanding an independent probe into the deaths.
Soldiers deployed by New Delhi have long been accused of abusing their emergency powers in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following the incident, strongly condemned the killings of the labourers from Rajouri and said that over 200 innocent Kashmiris have been martyred since the beginning of this year in fake encounters and so-called "cordon-and-search" operations.
On Friday, army spokesman Rajesh Kalia said the soldiers on the operation had "exceeded" their powers and "contravened" the guidelines governing military conduct in Kashmir.
"Disciplinary proceedings" would be taken against those responsible, Kalia added.
Police normally accompany soldiers on such operations, although officials said this had not happened on the July operation.
The men's families say the awaited results of a DNA test ordered as part of the investigation will prove they were local men.
The fake encounter in July revived memories of similar incidents across the disputed territory.
In 2010, three Indian army officers were found guilty of killing three labourers who had been falsely branded as Pakistani infiltrators near the disputed border known as the Line of Control.
The killings sparked months of protests that left more than 100 civilians dead.
In 2000, the army claimed it had killed five "terrorists" responsible for the massacre of 35 Sikhs, but an investigation found the five were locals killed by soldiers in a staged gun battle.
A slew of special emergency laws protect Indian soldiers serving in Kashmir from facing trial in civilian courts, and convictions in military courts are extremely rare.

they did not mentions the thousands more. What a kangaroo court!

k

Indian army admits soldiers' wrongdoing in deaths of three Kashmiris in July

SRINAGAR: The Indian army on Friday admitted that its soldiers exceeded their powers which led to the extra-judicial killings of three Kashmiri men in Shopian district of occupied Kashmir.The three men — cousins — were killed...

www.geo.tv

 

[DavidsSling]

A court of court of inquiry instituted by the army has found that troops exceeded powers vested under Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA).

Srinagar:
Soldiers involved in a controversial encounter in which three terrorists were claimed to have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian on July 18 have been indicted by the Indian Army. The army said that disciplinary action is being initiated against the accused troops.

The locals and families have alleged that the three young men were killed in a staged encounter and were cousins who were working as labourers in Shopian.

A court of inquiry instituted by the army has found that troops exceeded powers vested under Armed Forces Special Power Act or AFSPA and acted in contravention of the "Do's and Don'ts of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) approved by the Supreme Court".

"The inquiry ordered by the Army authorities into Op Amshipora has been concluded. The inquiry has brought out certain prima facie evidence indicating that during the operation, powers vested under the AFSPA 1990 were exceeded and the have been contravened," a defence spokesperson said.

"Consequently, the competent disciplinary authority has directed to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Army Act against those found prima-facie answerable," he said.

The statement said that the evidence collected by the inquiry has indicated that the three unidentified terrorists killed in Op Amshipora were Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohd Ibrar, who hailed from Rajouri.

"Their DNA report is awaited. Their involvement with terrorism or related activities is under investigation by the police," the statement added.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called for firm action against those found guilty.

The encounter had triggered a major outcry after photographs of the three young men surfaced on social media. The families identified them as three cousins who went missing on July 17 from a rented accommodation in the Chowgam village in Shopian district.

Their families said that 17-year-old Ibrar, 25-year-old Imtiyaz and 20-year-old Abrar Ahmed were labourers, who had gone to Shopian to work from Dhar Sakri village in Rajouri area in Poonch and had been out of contact since July 17, a day before the encounter.

Following the controversy, both the army and the police had said they would investigate the case. The locals had told NDTV that after the encounter, people in the area were called by the police and the army to identify the bodies - none of them turned out to be locals.

"We were called to identify the bodies. We could not identify any of them - they were not locals. They had bullets in their face, eyes and chest," said Mohammad Ashraf, a villager who lives just 100 meters from where the encounter took place.

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Kashmir is one of the world's most militarised regions where the government says it has been trying to control Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for over 30 years.

Counter-terror operations and a heavy security presence even in residential areas are a common sight in the valley where thousands have been killed in terrorist attacks and military action.

Army Indicts Troops In J&K Encounter That Killed 3 Men, Orders Action

Soldiers involved in a controversial encounter in which three terrorists were claimed to have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian on July 18 have been indicted by the Indian Army. The army said that disciplinary action is being initiated against the accused troops.

www.ndtv.com