DNA samples of 3 men killed in Shopian encounter match with families from Rajouri: J-K Police

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, September 25

Days after an Army inquiry into “prima facie” found evidence that its men violated powers under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during an encounter, J&K Police on Friday confirmed that the DNA samples of parents of three men from Rajouri district have matched with those killed in Amshipora Shopian on July 18.

IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said they received the DNA sample results and it has matched with those killed in Amshipora.

“We will now take further course of action and complete remaining formalities,” he said during a press conference. Kumar added they would expedite investigation in the case.

Police had collected DNA samples from the parents of three slain youth killed in Amshipora, Shopian last month.

The Army on July 18 had said three unidentified militants, who had fired at the soldiers, were killed in a gunfight in Amshipora Shopian. A controversy over the encounter erupted, when three families in Rajouri in Jammu division, claimed the slain were three missing cousins who had travelled to Shopian to work as labourers but were killed in a staged encounter. As the allegations surfaced, both Army and police started a probe into the ‘encounter’.

On September 18, an Army Court of Inquiry into the alleged encounter “prima facie” found evidence that its men violated powers under AFSPA and it has initiated a disciplinary action in the case. The Army’s court of inquiry had also revealed that the three killed in Amshipora Shopian on July 18 are from Rajouri, but it said the trio were terrorists and “their involvement with terrorism or related activities is under investigation by the police.”