J&K police to carry out DNA sampling of three ‘militants’ killed in Shopian

Jammu and Kashmir Police have decided to carry out DNA sampling of the “militants” killed in Shopian district during an encounter last month.

After the encounter, the bodies couldn’t be identified and they were “dubbed as militants” by the army and police. However, three families from Rajouri had filed a missing report about three youths and even identified the pictures of the men who were killed in the encounter in July.

All the mainstream political parties have demanded a high-level probe into the encounter.

On Tuesday, the police said that DNA sampling will be carried out. “Rajouri police has been approached by some families yesterday claiming that their kin who had gone to Shopian for some work are missing since July 17. They lodged a missing report at Peeru police station on August 10. Meanwhile, some reports on social media claim that the militants killed in the Shopian encounter on July 18 are their relatives,” a police spokesperson said.

He said that police had provided sufficient time for the identification of bodies at Kashmir police control room in Srinagar.

“The bodies could not be identified and they were buried in the presence of magistrate after conducting a post-mortem examination and taking the DNA samples. Taking cognizance of the claim by the families and media reports, Shopian police will carry out DNA sampling to match it with the family of missing youths. Besides identification, the police will also investigate all other aspects as per the law in due course of time,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said that the army has also initiated an investigation into the matter.

Lone alleges fake encounter

SRINAGAR: Peoples Conference chairman, Sajjad Lone on Tuesday castigated security forces for the alleged fake encounter in Shopian and deplored the silence of people of the country.

Lone who was recently released from the house arrest tweeted about three missing youths from Rajouri and said nothing has been uttered on the fake encounter in the country. Leaders of mainstream political parties have demanded a probe into the circumstances under which three youths of Rajouri were killed in the Shopian district of south Kashmir in July and dubbed as militants.

‘’The encounter in Shopian is yet again an ugly reminder of fake nature of claims made by security forces. This is the result of a culture of impunity. The tolerance for such incidents in the rest of the country is scary. Not a word has been uttered,’’ Sajjad Lone said in a tweet.

On Sunday, the family of three labourers from Rajouri district, who remain missing since July 17, lodged a missing report with the Rajouri police. Three youth Imtiyaz Ahmad, 21, of Dhar Sakri in Koteranka, Abrar Ahmad Khan, 18, of Dhar Sakri and Abrar Ahamd, 26, of Tarkassi Tehsil Koteranka in Rajouri had reached Shopian via the Mughal Road on July 2 and have gone missing since July 17. Police had lodged a missing report with the Koteranka police post in Rajouri.

Ahmad’s relative Lal Hussain said, “Since July 17, my nephew Imtiyaz Ahmad did not contact his family. They only have one mobile phone with them, which is switched off. Following this, we had lodged a written complaint at Koteranka police post.”

Srinagar-based defence spokesperson colonel Rajesh Kalia said the investigation is going on. “However, no probe has been initiated in this case so far,” he said.