Officer not ‘driven’ by reward: Army

The Army on Monday refuted the charge sheet filed by Jammu and Kashmir police in the alleged fake encounter in Amshipora, saying that its captain, who is facing disciplinary proceedings for his involvement, was “driven” by a ₹20-lakh reward for killing terrorists.

In a statement, Army spokesperson Rajesh Kalia said, “It is clarified that Indian Army has no system of cash awards for its personnel for any acts in combat situations or otherwise in the line of duty. The report is malafide (misleading) and not based on facts of the processes internal to Indian Army,” the army spokesman said in the statement. There are, however, cash rewards for officers and security personnel given by the J&K government for taking part in the encounters across J&K in which militants are killed. The rewards are different for the different categories of militants.

In the chargesheet, the J&K police has said that the accused Captain Bhoopinder Singh had killed the three men, tagging them militants, in a fake encounter at Amshipora for a ₹20 lakh reward, PTI had reported. The captain is in Army custody.

Three men -- Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar – were killed in an encounter on July 18, 2020, at Amshipora. After the encounter, the Army had said the slain men were militants.The charge sheet submitted before the chief judicial magistrate of this district also details the role of two civilians — Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone -- in the case.

Lone has since turned an approver and recorded his statement before a magistrate.

The charge sheet submitted by the Special Investigation Team of J&K Police has listed 75 witnesses in support of its findings and has also provided technical evidence.