Amshipora Fake Encounter: Process of summary of evidence stands completed: Army

Srinagar: The army Thursday said that the process of summary of evidence has been completed with regard to the July 18 Amshipora, Shopian fake encounter in which three labourers were killed and that the concerned authorities along with legal advisors are examining the same for further proceedings.

In a statement, Defence Spokesman in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said: “The process of recording the summary of evidence has been completed. The same is being examined by the concerned authorities in consultation with legal advisors for proceeding further.”

Colonel Kalia said that the army is committed to the ethical conduct of operations. “Further details will be shared in a manner so as not to prejudice the proceedings under army law,” he said.

On July 18, this year, three labourers were killed in a fake encounter at Amshipora, Shopian. Their pictures went viral on social media after which three families from Rajouri district of Jammu claimed that the slain were their kin who had traveled to Shopian to work as labourers.

Amid hue and cry by the netizens and civil society activists, the families demanded DNA mapping of slain trio.

The police conducted the DNA profiling of slain, the samples of which matched with three Rajouri families on September 25 , which proved that the slain were not militants, the labourers who were earning their living in Amshipora.

While the army initially said the three were “terrorists”, it later admitted that its men exceeded the powers vested under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and contravened the dos and don’ts of the chief of army staff (COAS) as approved by the Supreme Court.

The army had also ordered a court of inquiry into the encounter.

The slain trio were identified as Abrar Ahmed, 25; Imtiyaz Ahmed, 20, and Mohammed Ibrar, 16. On October 3, after around 70 days, the bodies of three labourers were exhumed.

The bodies were later handed over to the families who had reached Kashmir from Rajouri through Mughal road. The bodies of three labourers were later buried at their native places in Rajouri district as per the families of the slain. (KNO)