Army's Major Shopian Convicted of Murder in Encounter

An officer of major rank in the Indian Army has been found guilty of killing three youths in South Kashmir's Shopian district. Security forces claimed on July 18 that three militants were killed in an encounter in Amshipora village of Shopian district in southern Kashmir.

After this, there were reports in social media that the killed people actually belonged to the Rajouri district of Jammu, who went missing in Amshipura village.

Also Read: Shopian fake encounter: Bodies of 3 victims exhumed, families ask for justice

For these reasons, serious questions arose about the action of the security forces. After this, the army started investigating this matter and now in the investigation, the officer of the rank of Major has been convicted of killing the three youths.

Earlier, in the investigation that began in September, the Indian Army had said on the basis of evidence at the 'first glance' that the security forces had crossed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) powers.

Also Read: Shopian ‘fake encounter’: Bodies of 3 labourers being exhumed, handed over to families: IGP

The Army investigation found that the security forces went beyond the forces of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1990 and violated the guidelines of Chief of Army Staff approved by the Supreme Court.

The names of Kashmiri youths killed during the encounter in Amshipura were Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar. All three were laborers of Rajouri in Jammu and went to Kashmir in search of work.

In September IGP Kashmir Said that the DNA samples of parents have matched with slain trio, and added ‘Will take now further course of action, complete legal formalities’

Also Read: Shopian encounter was fake, DNA samples match with Family: IGP Kashmir

On September 18, in a brief statement, the Army had stated that the Shopian operation contravened the dos and don’ts of the Chief of Army Staff approved by the Supreme Court. “The inquiry has brought out certain prima facie evidence indicating that during the operation, powers vested under the AFSPA 1990 were exceeded and the Do’s and Don’ts of Chief of Army Staff as approved by the Supreme Court have been contravened.

Also Read: Shopian encounter: Exhume bodies of our loved ones, hang culprits in public, demand families of slain trio

“Consequently, the competent disciplinary authority has directed to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Army Act against those found prima-facie answerable,” the statement had said.

Soon after the army’s statement, the families of slain youth had demanded immediate exhumation of the bodies of their loved ones for proper burial at Rajouri. The three families from Rajouri had identified their sons through pictures that went viral on social media. The army had ordered a court of inquiry while police and the administration had been probing the case separately.

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