Shopian encounter: Bodies of 3 men to be exhumed

Srinagar, September 30

The bodies of three persons killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Army in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in July this year will be exhumed and handed over to their families after the due process of law, a senior police officer said here on Wednesday.

“Since the DNA samples (of the deceased) have matched with family, the three bodies will be exhumed and handed over to families after due process of law,” Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said.

On July 18, the Army claimed three militants were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

However, the Army initiated an inquiry after social media reports indicated the three men were from Rajouri district in Jammu and had gone missing in Amshipura.

The families of the three men from Rajouri who worked as labourers in Shopian had also filed a police complaint.

The Army completed a probe on September 18 and said it has found “prima facie” evidence that its troops “exceeded” powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act during the encounter and has initiated disciplinary proceedings.

The police also launched its investigations and collected the DNA samples of the families to match with those killed.

Last week, the police said the samples have matched with the families from Rajouri and further investigation in the case was going on. — PTI