J&K L-G Manoj Sinha hands over government job letters to family members of victims of Shopian ‘staged’ encounter

PTI

Jammu, September 5

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday handed over appointment letters for government jobs to family members of three persons killed in a staged encounter by an army captain in south Kashmir’s Shopian district in 2020.

The three were killed at Amshipura, a remote hilly village in Shopian on July 18, 2020 by Captain Bhoopendra Singh, who labelled them as “terrorists”.

The letters were handed over on compassionate ground by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at a ceremony here to Shareen Akhter, wife of Mohammad Abrar (a resident of Tarkassi, Kotranka); Mohmmad Arif, brother of Mohammad Imtiyaz, (resident of Dhar Sakri, Kotranka); and Farayaz Ahmed, brother of Mohammad Abrar of Kotranka, an official spokesman said.

Doubts were raised over the killings and the Army constituted a Court of Inquiry. The Court of Inquiry and Summary of Evidence found that the troops had “exceeded” powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

General court-martial proceedings, which were completed earlier this year, recommended life imprisonment for Singh.

The life sentence is subject to confirmation by higher army authorities, officials said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police had also constituted a Special Investigation Team which filed a charge sheet against three persons, including Singh, for “staging a fake encounter”.

LG Sinha had visited the families in 2020 and conveyed to them Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message that the government stood with the aggrieved families besides assuring them complete support.

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 LG also handed over an appointment letter to Neeta Devi, widow of Chager Kumar of Dhandal of Ramnagar (Udhampur) who was killed in an IED blast in Udhampur in 2022, the spokesman said.

Sinha interacted with the family members of the deceased civilians and assured all possible assistance by the administration in the future.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh and Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar were also present at the event.

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