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Amshipora op: Kin of men killed in fake encounter await jobs promised by J&K LG
On July 2, 2020, Imtiyaz, 21; Abrar Ahmad, 26; and Ibrar Ahmad Khan, 18, had left Rajouri for Shopian to work in apple orchards; they, however, went missing on July 17, with the army next day claiming that three unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter in Amshipora
Families of three young men from Rajouri, who were killed in a ‘staged’ encounter by an army captain in Amshipora of Shopian district in July 2020, have appealed Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha to fulfil his promise of providing government jobs to them.
“LG Sinha had come to our house in December 2020 and promised a government job each to a member of families of the three youths. The files were submitted in the office of Rajouri district commissioner, but no progress has been made so far. It has been more than two years now,” said Sabir Hussain, father of Imtiyaz Ahmad, one of the three youths.
On July 2, 2020, Imtiyaz, 21; Abrar Ahmad, 26; and Ibrar Ahmad Khan, 18, had left Rajouri for Shopian to work in apple orchards. They, however, went missing on July 17, with the army next day claiming that three unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter in Amshipora.
As per Hussain, the then deputy magistrate, Nazir Sheikh, had asked them to bring a letter from the Raj Bhawan to process their cases. “We are poor and illiterate people, who toil hard for two square meals. No one would have allowed us to meet the LG,” he said.
On Monday, an army court had recommended life imprisonment for Captain Bhoopendra Singh after a court of inquiry and a subsequent summary of evidence found that soldiers under him abused their powers granted under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and killed the three men and passed them off as terrorists.
“We are satisfied with the life sentence to the captain, who killed my son and two of my nephews. However, we request LG Sinha to fulfil his promise of jobs. We have received the ex gratia relief of ₹5 lakh,” Hussain said.
While calls and messages to incumbent deputy magistrate Vikas Kundal elicited no response, a senior official from his office said the exact status of the files submitted by the victims’ kin could only be shared by Wednesday.
LG Manoj Sinha had on October 8, 2020, walked four kilometres across mountainous terrain to visit the victims’ families in Tarkassi village.
At that time, he had assured them that a member from each of the three families would be given a government job besides cash assistance. Sinha had asked the families to let the probe be completed first.
In 2020 August, following an outcry, a police team from Shopian had collected DNA samples of three families in Rajouri to match them with those of the three men.
The evidence gathered by the army’s court of inquiry had prima facie indicated that the three unidentified terrorists killed in Amshipora operation were Imtiyaz Ahmad, Abrar Ahmad and Mohammad Ibrar.
A statement by the army had then mentioned, “The inquiry ordered by the army authorities into Operation Amshipora has been concluded. The inquiry has brought out certain prima facie evidence indicating that during the operation, powers vested under the AFSPA were exceeded and the do’s and don’ts of chief of army staff as approved by the Supreme Court have been contravened. Consequently, the competent disciplinary authority has directed to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Army Act against those found prima facie answerable.”
