Re-probe into J&K fake encounter case: SHRC

The Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission asks for re-investigation of a case pertaining to the killing of three persons in a fake encounter in 2002.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has asked for reinvestigation of a case pertaining to the killing of three persons allegedly by army in a fake encounter in 2002 but recommended ex-gratia relief and a government job each to their kin.

HT Image

Disposing off the petition filed by the widows of the three persons challenging the army version about the killing of their husbands, acting chairman of SHRC Habibullah Bhat on Saturday asked the government to re-investigate the case against the two Jat Regiment personnel accused of killing Abdul Rahim Goth, Bashir Ahmed Gujjar and Abdul Rahim in a fake encounter in Banihal area of Ramban district.

However, Bhat ordered a compensation of Rs one lakh and a government job each to the family of the victims.

Three women -- Zeeba, Zareefa and Jana Begum -- had filed a petition with the SHRC in 2003, alleging the army of killing their spouses Goth, Gujjar and Rahim.

The women said their husbands and others were arrested by the troops under the command of Major G S Gill while they returning to their homes on July 13, 2002 after attending a public meeting of Farooq Ahmad Mir, a candidate from Banihal constituency during the state assembly elections that year.

Due to Mir's intervention, all but the three were released by the troops, the women said, adding the bodies of their husbands were handed over to their families by the army claiming they were militants killed in a shootout.