Shopian fake encounter: Bodies of civilians exhumed, handed over to families

Bodies of three civilians, who were killed by the army in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on July 18 and passed off as militants, were exhumed and handed over to their families on Saturday.

While confirming the development an official said the bodies of the three were exhumed in north Kashmir’s Baramulla.

On Thursday, District Magistrate Rajouri in Jammu region forwarded an application of the families to his counterpart in Baramulla. In the application, the families had demanded bodies of their kin.

Also Read: Duo arrested in connection with Shopian fake encounter sent to judicial remand

Jammu and Kashmir Police had buried the bodies of the trio in Baramulla on July 18 after claiming that those killed were “unidentified militants killed in a gunfight.”’

On July 18, the Army had claimed that three unidentified militants were killed in Amshipora village in the higher reaches of Shopian. However, the Amshipora encounter came under scrutiny after three families from the Rajouri claimed that the trio killed were their kin and labourers by profession.

Following these claims, the Army and the Police ordered separate inquiries into the matter. The DNA samples of the families were lifted on August 13 and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination and comparison with the “three unidentified slain militants”.

Also Read: Investigation into Shopian ‘fake’ encounter case in final stages: J&K police

On September 25, the DNA sample reports of the three slain persons matched with their parents.

On September 18, the Army initiated disciplinary action against unnamed soldiers and officers involved in the Amshipora encounter. In a brief statement, the Army accepted that its men ‘prima facie’ violated powers under Armed Forces Special Powers Acts (AFSPA).

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.

This is the first such case after the Machhil fake encounter of 2010 when authorities allowed exhumation of the bodies. Earlier in 2006, the authorities had also allowed exhumation in the infamous Ganderbal fake encounter case.