Victim’s uncle seeks impartial probe

SAYS IT WILL BE UNJUST, A MOCKERY OF JUSTICE IF THE ARMY IS ASSIGNED THE TASK TO CONDUCT THE PROBE

JAMMU: Even as the army ordered a court of inquiry into the alleged fake encounter of three Gujjar boys in Amshipora in Shopian on July 18, the uncle one of the deceased boys demanded an impartial probe by an independent agency or by a serving or retired high court judge.

The three young men - Imtiyaz Ahmad, 21, of Dhar Sakri, Ibrar Ahmad Khan, 18, of Dhar Sakri and Ibrar Ahmad, 26, of Tarkassi in Rajouri - had reached Shopian via the Mughal Road on July 2 and July 17 to work as labourers in apple orchards but have been missing since.

Imtiyaz’ uncle, Lal Hussain, said, “DNA samples of the three families were taken on August 14. We are waiting for the report but we have already identified our family members from the pictures of the ‘militants’ circulating on social media.”

“If the DNA samples match the three bodies buried by the security forces in Baramulla then a probe should be conducted by an independent agency or by a serving or retired high court judge,” he said, adding, “It will be unjust and a mockery of justice if the army is assigned the task to conduct the probe,” he said.

Lal Hussain claimed that the young men had gone to work as labourers and were never involved in any terror- related activities.

“My nephew, Imtiyaz, who passed his Class-12 exams last year wanted to pursue his studies. He had asked his father for ₹7,000 to take admission in Rajouri Degree College but his father told him that he had no money,” said Hussain.

“Imtiyaz then decided to go to Shopian to earn ₹7,000-₹8,000 to take admission in college,” he said. Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar had recently said that the police was working on two aspects— cross examining DNA samples of the slain militants with the families claiming them as their wards and checking their call details to ascertain if they were in touch with militants.