Army confirms dismissal of Captain convicted for SHopian ‘fake encounter’ that killed three men

In the meantime, Singh secured a stay on his sentence of life imprisonment and a bail from the Armed Forces Tribunal

The army has confirmed the cashiering of Captain Bhoopendra Singh for killing three civilians in a “staged encounter” in south Kashmir’s Amshipora in July 2020 and dubbing them terrorists, officials said on Tuesday.

According to officials in the know of the development, the findings of a Court of Inquiry and his conviction and sentencing were confirmed by the higher Army authorities on November 11 (HT File Photo)

In the meantime, Singh secured a stay on his sentence of life imprisonment and a bail from the Armed Forces Tribunal.

According to officials in the know of the development, the findings of a Court of Inquiry and his conviction and sentencing were confirmed by the higher Army authorities on November 11 as required under the law.Singh was brought to a civil jail in Jammu and later released on bail as per the directions of the tribunal on November 11 itself, they said.

According to the confirmation of the sentence, the officer was cashiered, or dismissed from service dishonourably. Singh, who joined the Army in 2015, will now be deprived of pensionary and all other benefits.

In its 25-page order delivered on November 9 suspending his sentence, the tribunal said Singh could not have any motive for the action and conducted such an operation without the knowledge of his senior officer.

The tribunal, however, refused to stay his conviction and other punishments such as cashiering.

The tribunal’s principal bench here said, “As we have only stayed the sentence of conviction to the extent of undergoing the jail sentence, all other punishments like cashiering etc shall continue to remain in operation during the pendency of this appeal.”The tribunal noted that the counsel for the Centre had sought permission to promulgate the findings and sentence by the confirming authority and then shift Singh to a civil jail to serve the rest of the sentence of life imprisonment.It had directed the counsel to complete the proceedings by November 11.

Singh’s counsel Maj (Retd) Sudhanshu S Pandey expressed hope that the tribunal would expeditiously hear his petition against his conviction.

“A young officer has lost his job but we have complete faith in the judiciary and I am hopeful that justice will be done to him and his honour will be restored,” Pandey said.