An army captain has been recommended for life imprisonment by an army court for his involvement in the killing of three men in a staged encounter in Amshipura, south Kashmir in July 2020. The Court of Inquiry and Summary of Evidence had previously found that troops had exceeded powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which led to the court martial proceedings against Captain Bhoopendra Singh. The three men, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed, and Mohammed Ibrar, were labeled as militants and killed in a remote hilly village in Shopian district. However, as doubts were raised on social media, the army promptly constituted a Court of Inquiry which found prima facie evidence that the troops had exceeded powers vested under AFSPA.
The court martial proceedings against Captain Singh were initiated for violating the powers vested under the AFSPA and for not following the dos and don’ts of the army as approved by the Supreme Court. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had also constituted a Special Investigation Team which filed a charge sheet against three people, including Captain Singh, for “staging a fake encounter”. The identity of the three youths was subsequently confirmed through a DNA test. The bodies were handed over to their families in Baramulla in October 2020 and buried in their native village in Rajouri.
The life sentence is subject to confirmation by higher army authorities, and the process involved in such matters is still on, according to army sources. The army had issued a statement saying “the process of recording the Summary of Evidence has been completed. The same is being examined by the authorities concerned in consultation with legal advisors for proceeding further.” The officials declined to comment any further.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had visited the families in Rajouri in 2020 and conveyed to them Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message that the government stood with the aggrieved families and they would be taken care of with all support from the government. Mohammed Yusuf, the father of Abrar Ahmed, said that after the killing of his son, the family was in shambles. He added that the compensation of Rs 5 lakh handed over by the government had been consumed in fighting the case. Yusuf said that now his child is also growing, and the promise of the government to provide a job to one of the family members is still pending.
The SIT charge sheet alleged that Captain Singh provided wrong information to his superiors and the police about the recovery made during the staged encounter. The other two named by the police in its charge sheet are Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone, both civilians. “By staging the encounter,” the three accused “have purposefully destroyed evidence or real crime that they have committed and also have (been) purposefully projecting false information as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched between them with the motive to grab cash rewards,” it said.
The army had denied that its captain staged the encounter for a cash reward, saying there was no such system for its personnel for any acts in combat situations or otherwise in the line of duty. The recommendation of life imprisonment for Captain Singh will be subject to confirmation by higher army authorities, and the process involved in such matters is still on, according to army sources.
(Inputs taken from news agency PTI)
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