Shopian encounter: J&K police to cross-examine DNA samples of slain militants

Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday said that they will go for cross-examination of DNA samples on the July 18 alleged fake encounter in Shopian.

Inspector General Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said that a police team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) rank officer has left for Rajouri in Jammu to complete the legal formalities.

“The police are working on two aspects - to go for cross-examination of DNA samples of slain with the families claiming them as their wards and to check their call details to find out whether they were in touch with militants,” he said.

The army is already inquiring into an encounter on July 18 by its troops in Shopian following complaints by three families that the three persons killed in the encounter were their kin and not the militants. The families of three missing youth from Rajouri had on Monday claimed that the pictures of three slain killed on July 18 encounter were their wards, who were working as labourers in Shopian and were living in rented accommodation.

“We will go for DNA cross-examination of the slain with the three families that claim three militants killed were their wards. We have already taken the DNA samples of all three slain,” the IGP said, adding that “today a team headed by DySP Wajahat has left for Rajouri to complete the legal formalities.”

Secondly, Kumar said the police will check the call details of all the three slain to find out whether they were in touch with militants and other technical details as well. “No conclusion can be drawn at this point,” the Kashmir police chief said.

The incident has already sparked a controversy with political parties in Kashmir demanding an impartial probe into the alleged encounter to ensure speedy justice.