Srinagar
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, police say an Indian army officer and two others planted illegally acquired weapons on the bodies of three young men to pass them off as “terrorists” after killing them in a staged gun battle in Shopian in July, this year, reported Turkish news channel TRT World.
IIOJK police have found that an Indian army officer and two associates planted weapons on the bodies of three labourers killed in the disputed Kashmir to make it look as though they were militants in a staged gun battle, the TV channel added.
A police statement issued late on Sunday said the officer and two others planted illegally acquired weapons and material on their dead bodies after stripping them of their identities and tagged them as hardcore “terrorists” in possession of war-like stores.”
Indian army has not disclosed how its officer – identified by police as Captain Bupinder – obtained illegal weapons. The Indian army had claimed that the three men were killed in a gun battle in the village of Amshipora in Shopian and that three weapons were found on them.
The bodies were hurriedly buried in a remote border area, the TV said. The men’s families in Rajouri identified them one month later from photographs that circulated on social media. The families said the three had only been looking for work in Kashmir’s apple orchards.
The three men — whom the Indian army called “Pakistani terrorists” — were killed on July 18 in the southern Kashmir valley, and buried in a remote border area.The families of the young men — cousins aged 18, 21, and 25 — said they were last heard from on July 17. Following the investigation, the bodies of the three slain men were exhumed in September and returned to their families.
Captain Bhoopendra Singh has been charged with murder, conspiracy, and other offences, the police statement said. Kashmiri civilians and activists for years have blamed Indian troops for abusing their powers and repeatedly targeting civilians, TRT World said.—KMS
