Indian army official killed 3 Kashmiris in encounter staged for Rs2 lakh prize money

• Indian army captain staged encounter for reward money
• 3 Kashmiri youth killed before Indian army cordoned off area

An Indian army captain killed three Kashmiri civilians, including a minor, in a fake encounter staged to grab reward money of INR200,000, Indian media reported. 

The fake encounter occurred in July 2020 in the Shopia district of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). According to the police charge sheet, the Indian army captain fired at three Kashmiri youth even before his men could lay a cordon of the area. 

Four out of the 75 witnesses said the Indian army official “initiated a few bursts of live ammunition even before a cordon was laid” and others joined him very late in engaging the suspected militants.

The victims, Abrar Ahmed (25), Imtiyaz Ahmed (20), and Mohammed Ibrar (16), were all labourers from Rajouri. 

Read more: Indian army admits soldiers' wrongdoing in deaths of three Kashmiris in July

Two civilians — Tabish Ahmad, a resident of Shopian, and Bilal Ahmad, a resident of Pulwama — who acted as sources for the Army in providing the tip-off, were also part of the operation and provided a cover to the Captain, the charge sheet said.

“They (Captain and two civilians) purposefully destroyed evidence of a real crime that they have committed and also have been purposefully projecting false information as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched between them with a motive to grab prize money of INR200,000."

The charge sheet said a senior officer was fed false information to lodge a police complaint of the incident. 

The Captain, who was heading the operation in Amshipora village in Shopian, later showed two pistols with two magazines, four empty pistol cartridges, 15 live cartridges, and 15 empty cartridges of AK series weapon and other objectionable items as recoveries from the encounter site, the charge sheet said. 

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Later in the police probe, the Special Investigation Team “recreated all the scenes of crime” and “the route used after meeting the victims and the place where the victims were murdered”.

After the revelations, Captain Singh and the two civilians were slapped with charges under Sections 302, 364, 201, 436, 120-B, 182 of the IPC, and Section 7/25 IA Act.

As per the publication, an order has already been issued by the court asking the Army authorities “to give their opinion whether the accused Captain be tried by the Criminal Court of ordinary jurisdiction or by the Court Martial”.