With the court-martial proceedings of the Army recommending life imprisonment for a captain in connection with the killing of three men in a "staged" encounter in Amshipura in south Kashmir in July 2020, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the decision but sought similar accountability other encounter killings in Kashmir.
Mehbooba took to her official Twitter handle saying, "Recommended punishment of life imprisonment for Captain involved in Amshipora fake encounter is a welcome step towards creating accountability in such cases. Hope an impartial probe is also ordered in Lawaypora & Hyderpora encounters to prevent a repetition of such ghastly incidents."
Mehbooba said, "It is a positive step towards upholding the rule of law & ensuring justice for the victims. It sends a strong message that such acts of violence & abuse of power by those in uniform will not be tolerated."
“For ensuring accountability and inculcating a proactive will for responsibility and justice among security forces, it is important to note that this case highlights the need for better accountability and oversight mechanisms within the armed forces to prevent such incidents from happening in the first place."
"Going forward, it is crucial that the armed forces take concrete steps to ensure that their personnel adhere to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct."
"The fact that the accused was able to commit such a heinous crime and pass off innocent civilians as militants raises serious concerns about the culture of impunity & lack of accountability that often pervades within the military," Mehbooba added.
She said in order to build trust between the civilian population and the military and work towards a peaceful and just society, it is necessary to conduct thorough investigations into Lawaypora and Hyderpora encounters and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions.
Mehbooba hoped that the investigating agencies would probe the recent case, in which the mutilated dead body of Rashid Dar of Kunan village in Kupwara had been found in a forest after he had gone missing in army custody two months earlier.
Police chargesheet in the case
According to the police chargesheet on July 18, 2020, Major Kush, adjutant 62 Rashtriya Rifles Shopian lodged a complaint at Heerpora Police Station that based on "their own input about unknown terrorists in the Amshipora village, they laid a cordon and search operation on July 17, 2020."“During the operation, three unidentified hard-core terrorists were killed and two pistols with two magazines and four empty cartridges, 15 live cartridges and 15 empty cartridges of AK series weapon and other objectionable items were recovered from the encounter site,” says the chargesheet.
Following Major Kush’s information, the police lodged an FIR 42/2020 under section 307 IPC and 7/27 Arms Act. The police chargesheet claims the DNA profiling of the three bodies were conducted and they were handed over to Auqaf Committee Baramulla for burial after their pictures were taken. On July 19, 2020, a senior Army officer Brigadier Katoch gave a press conference in Shopian saying, “Our search party moved toward a newly constructed small house. While the search party moved inside it came under fire from inside the house. The search party immediately got deployed, lobbed grenades and retaliated to the fire which came from inside. In the ensuing action, three terrorists were neutralized. The dead bodies of terrorists along with arms and ammunition and the IED material recovered from them were handed over to Jammu and Kashmir Police.”
On August 10, 2020, the police received information from Rajouri about the three missing youths. They were 16-year-old Abrar Ahmad son of Bagha Khan of Dharsakri village Rajouri, 25 year old Abrar Ahmad son of Haji Mohammad Yousuf of Tarkassi village Rajouri, 20-year-old Imtiaz Ahmad son of Sabar Hussain of Dharsakri village Rajouri respectively. Later the three killed youths were identified through a DNA test and their bodies were handed over to their families in Baramulla in October 2020 and buried in their native village in Rajouri.
The chargesheet also said the parallel court of inquiry ordered by the Army has led to the arrest of Bhoopendra Singh alias Major Basheer Khan. It also said the three youths were abducted in a white car numbered DL8CU 0649 and were killed in an unattended shed to gain prize money of Rs 20 lakh. The police chargesheet added Bhoopendra Singh fired 37 rounds during the incident from his service rifle and a cordon was laid on the directions of captain Singh by the combat action team after firing by him.
