J&K police intiates probe into ‘encounter killing’ of three J&K youths

SRINAGAR: A police team led by a deputy SP rank official has been assigned to complete all legal formalities and start investigation into the killing of three persons in an alleged encounter at Ashmipora in J&K’s Shopian district on July 18, IGP-Kashmir range Vijay Kumar said here on Thursday.
Three persons from Rajouri in Jammu divisions had gone missing from Shopian since July 18, their families said. They were Imtiaz Ahmad, 26, Ibrar Ahmed, 18, and Ibrar Ahmed, 21 — all residents of Dhar Sakri in Kotranka in Rajouri district in Jammu division. On the same day, the army had claimed that “three militants” were killed in the higher reaches of Shopian in South Kashmir, but shared no further details.
The controversy started after the families filed a complaint with a police station in Rajouri stating that their three members were missing since July 17 from Ashimpora area of Shopian where they were working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards.
Demanding a probe, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief spokesperson Ravider Sharma had said, “The circumstances demand immediate statement of facts by the authorities regarding the mystery of their death and an independent probe into the circumstances in view of the controversy so that rule of law prevails.”
Kumar on Thursday said that police will match the DNA samples of the slain persons with that of the members of the families claiming them to be their wards. Cops will also examine the call details of the three to find out if they were in touch with terrorists.
Recently, the families of the three youths claimed that the photos of the three persons killed in the July 18 encounter were their wards, working as labourers and living in a rented accommodation in Shopian district.
The families had also approached the authorities in Rajouri to seek permission to travel to Kashmir with their demand for exhumation of the bodies for identification.
Amnesty International, too, has demanded a probe.