The President of Peoples Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti, and Vice President of National Conference, Omar Abdullah, have questioned the bail granted to an Indian Army officer convicted of killing three innocent Kashmiris in a fake encounter in 2020.
According to Kashmir Media Service, three labourers, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar, hailing from Rajouri district of Jammu region, were killed by the Indian troops led by Captain Bhoopendra Singh in Amshipora area of Shopian district on July 18, 2020 and labeled as “terrorists”. The Indian Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi has suspended the life sentence of Captain Bhoopendra Singh.
Mehbooba Mufti in a post on X, formerly twitter, said the bail granted to the Army officer raises serious questions on the sanctity of the judicial process. The PDP chief said that she spoke to the father of one of the innocent civilians killed in the fake Amshipora encounter. He is utterly devastated by the Army Tribunal’s decision to revoke the life sentence given to the Captain, who himself admitted to the crime, she said.
Mehbooba Mufti said that the bail granted to the Army officer serious questions on the sanctity of the judicial process.
Omar Abdullah addressing a party meeting in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district said, we are reminded repeatedly by the Indian government that our blood is cheap, that there is no value of our blood. When our people get killed, nobody is bothered, he said.
The NC leader said, I was surprised to see the news that the Army officer who killed three men from Rajouri in a fake encounter in Shopian was sentenced to life imprisonment by army court martial. He said, the other day he was released and set free.
Omar Abdullah said people from occupied Jammu and Kashmir who were in jails without any charges were not getting bail. “How many of our youths are in jails after 2019. Our government employees are dismissed from service without any procedure, bulldozers are run over the houses of people on smallest of charges. But a man who has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing three civilians from Rajouri will be free now,” he added.
On the other hand, the families of the martyred civilians have said they will challenge the order of the Armed Forces Tribunal.—KMS
