MACCHIL ENCOUNTER: FAMILIES SHOCKED AT TRIBUNAL ORDER

SRINAGAR: The families of the three youth killed in a fake encounter by the army in 2010 were shocked to learn about the suspension of life sentence to five army men convicted in 2014. Reports said Armed Forces Tribunal has suspended the life imprisonment of then Colonel Dinesh Pathania, Captain Upendra, Havildar Devendra Kumar, Lance Naik Lakhmi and Lance Naik Arun Kumar.

A military court in 2014 had sentenced the soldiers to life imprisonment for the staged killing of three Kashmiri civilians – Shahzad Ahmed (27), Riyaz Ahmad (22) and Mohammad Shafi (23) – and passing them off as foreign infiltrators in Macchil sector of LoC in 2010. The Valley had erupted in anger after learning that the army had lured them up on the promise of finding them jobs but had actually killed them for rewards and passed them off as militants.

Mohammad Yousuf Lone, father of Riyaz, said the news has disturbed him and his family.

“We are in extreme pain. Which law is this that you sentence them to life sentence and then within a few years decide to release them? I think they should kill us all --me and my family -- so that we can get rid of this agony,” lone said.

Shahzad’s father, Ghulam Mohammad Khan was at a loss of words to express his disappointment. “We don’t accept this verdict,” he said. Abdul Rashid, father of slain youth Mohammad Shafi, also expressed his anger over the judgement.