J&K BJP chief visits alleged fake encounter victim families

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Jammu and Kashmir chief Ravinder Raina on Monday visited the families of three slain youths from Rajouri, who were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the army in Shopian on July 18 this year.

Raina, an old RSS hand, known as a hardliner, visited Tarkassi Peeri and Dhar Sakri villages of Kotranka tehsil in Rajouri district to offer condolences with the victim families.

A local news agency quoting victim families said that Sangh pracharak Raina offered his condolences to them and assured that law enforcement agencies will provide justice on merit.

“He also offered condolences on behalf of the Prime Minister and stated that everyone is pained to see the loss of three young lives,” it added.

Holding a post-graduate degree in international law and human rights, Raina has been closely associated with the welfare of victims of terrorism in J&K.

The development comes days after J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha visited the victim families and assured them that the probe into the killings will be taken to a logical conclusion and justice will be delivered

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”.

On September 25, the DNA sample reports of the three slain persons matched with their parents. On October 3, the bodies of the three were exhumed and handed over to their families.

Earlier, 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).

The outcome of the probe into the Amshipora encounter was made public after the J&K LG met Army Chief General Manoj Naravane during the latter’s two-day visit to Kashmir on September 17. Prior to that, the families of the slain had knocked at the doors of the LG demanding a probe and making their DNA reports public.