Army court recommends lifer to officer involved in Amshipura 'staged' encounter; sentence awaits confirmation

Official sources said that Captain Singh was subjected to court martial for violating the powers vested under AFSPA and not abiding by the dos and don'ts of the Army as directed by the Supreme Court earlier.

New Delhi:An Army court has recommended life imprisonment to an Army captain in the case involving the killing of three youths in a "staged encounter" in South Kashmir's Amshipura village in July 2020, official sources said on Sunday. They further revealed that the proceedings for a general court-martial were completed in less than a year.

According to official sources, Captain Bhoopendra Singh underwent court martial after it was found in a Court of Inquiry and Summary of Evidence that the jawans had exceeded their powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

Officials clarified that the sentence is subject to confirmation by the higher authorities in the Army. Refusing to divulge any further information regarding the development, Army sources said that the process in relation to the case is still in progress.

The three youths-identified as Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar-were killed in a "staged encounter" in a remote village in Shopian district on July 18, 2020. The deceased were labelled as terrorists. Within a few weeks of the encounter, netizens started questioning its veracity on social media following which the Army set up a Court of Inquiry which found prima facie evidence showing that the troops "exceeded" their powers vested under AFSPA. After the Court of Inquiry, the Summary of Evidence was completed in the last week of December 2020.

The Army in a brief statement said "the process of recording the Summary of Evidence has been completed. "The same is being examined by the authorities concerned in consultation with legal advisors for proceeding further." "The Indian Army is committed to the ethical conduct of operations," it added.

According to official sources, Captain Singh was subjected to court martial for violating the powers vested under AFSPA and not abiding by the dos and don'ts of the Army as directed by the Supreme Court earlier.

Mohammed Yusuf, the father of one of the deceased Abrar Ahmed was called by the Army from Rajouri for deposing during the court martial proceedings against Captain Singh and asked to submit a missing report regarding his son.

Official sources said that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had also constituted a Special Investigation Team which following the probe filed a chargesheet against three persons including Captain Singh Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha met the affected families in Rajouri in 2020 and conveyed Prime Minister's message to them stating Government will extend full cooperation to them. The identity of the three deceased was ascertained through a DNA test and the bodies were handed over to the families in Baramulla in October 2020.

Speaking to the news agency PTI from Rajouri, Yusuf said "The compensation of Rs 5 lakh handed over by the government has been consumed in fighting the case. Now his child is also growing and the promise of the government to provide a job to one of the family members is still pending."

The other two named in the chargesheet-are Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone- are both civilians, "By staging the encounter," the three accused "have purposefully destroyed evidence or real crime that they have committed and also have (been) purposefully projecting false information as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched between them with the motive to grab" cash rewards, it said.