Families of deceased express shock; say it is reopened their wounds
BUNTY MAHAJAN
JAMMU, NOVEMBER 13: The Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi on Monday suspended the life sentence awarded to an Army Captain Bhoopendra Singh who was found guilty of killing three Rajouri youth in a “staged’’ encounter in Shopian district’s Amshipora village in South Kashmir in July 2020.
The Tribunal also granted bail to the Army officer with the condition that he appears before its Principal Registrar on First Monday of every month beginning January 2024, sources said.
Meanwhile, in Rajouri district’s Kotranka tehsil, family members of the three youth killed in Amshipora `staged’ encounter expressed shock over the Army Tribunal’s order. “It has reopened our wounds,’’ said Mohammad Yousuf, father of the deceased Mohammad Abrar.
Three youth from these Dharsakri and Tarkasi villages – Imtiyaz Hussain, Ibrar Hussain and Mohammad Abrar, who had gone to Shopian in Kashmir Valley to work as labourers, were branded as terrorists and killed by troops under the command of Captain Bhoopendra Singh on July 18, 2020. In March 2023, the Army officer was court-martialed and sentenced to life by an Army court following a Court of Inquiry and subsequent summery of evidence found that troops under his command exceeded their powers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the matter.
All the the deceased were relatives. Of them, Mohammad Abrar, 25, had earlier worked as a labourer in Saudi Arabia for nearly four years. On return, he had built a house in the village where he used to stay with his wife and a 15 month old son. Before leaving for Valley, he had left his wife and son to his in-laws’ house.
Imtiyaz Hussain, 20, a resident of Dharsakri village in Rajouri district’s Kotranka tehsil, had passed his 12th class examination. He had left home on June 16, 2020 for Kashmir’s Shopian district to work as a labourer so that he can earn some money to pay for his admission in the college.
His cousin and co-villager, Ibrar Ahmed, 16, was a student of 11th class at the J&K Government run Higher Secondary School at Peeri village in Kotranka tehsil.