DNA test confirms claim of Shopian fake encounter

SRINAGAR: The DNA sample of three youths killed in the July 18 encounter in Shopian matched with their families, who have been claiming that the trio were poor labourers and not “unidentified militants”.
Political parties have called for making the Shopian case an effective deterrent against human rights violations, saying that fake encounters further alienate the people from the social mainstream.

IG, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar confirmed that the DNA samples had matched with the families of Imtiyaz Ahmed, Ibrar Ahmed and Mohammad Ibrar from Rajouri. The IG said the police, which is already probing the case, will carry forward the investigation. “We will speed up the investigation.” Kumar said the involvement of the trio in militant activities is a matter of investigation.

Last week, the Army had admitted that powers vested under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act were violated in the July encounter. It has decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Army Act against the guilty soldiers. After police confirmed that the deceased were labourers from Rajouri labourers, J&K Apni Party president and former finance minister Altaf Bukhari demanded that the case warrants the certainty of punishment under law that can act as an effective deterrent against such violations of human rights.

National Conference vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah said fake encounters tend to further alienate people. “The @JmuKmrPolice  has confirmed what the families of the dead young men have claimed all along - 3 innocent men were killed in an encounter & passed off as militants. Why do they not learn? Machil, Pathribal & the other fake encounters destroy trust & further alienate people (sic),” Omar tweeted.