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| Army cites ‘Act’, refuses to join Sopore probe | | |
New Delhi, Mar 15: Army has refused to participate in the inquiry being conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir government into the killing of two innocent civilians in Sopore town (North Kashmir) last month, saying such a probe was not valid.
The inquiry, initiated by state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, had blamed the army personnel present at the site of encounter for not verifying the claims of their informers before shooting down the innocents.
The civilian inquiry had asked the army to present before it the personnel who were involved in the killing but sources said the Brigade Command informed through a letter that such an inquiry was not valid under the Army Act.
Citing the Army Act, the force handed over a statement giving their version of the story, sources said.
The Army's rejection of the government probe is likely to figure in the high-level meeting between Omar, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and the Army authorities scheduled for Wednesday in Jammu, the sources said.
Earlier, Omar had come down heavily on security forces for using excess force and had announced a inquiry into the killing of the two youths on February 22.
Defence officials had said the killing was the result of an encounter, which took place in a bus near Bumai Chowk in Sopore town.
They said an encounter took place after the Rashtriya Rifles personnel started frisking the passengers in the bus and a civilian was killed consequently.
As soon as the news of the killings spread, thousands of people had congregated in the town to protest against the incident.
They had brought in the bodies of two youths and had refused to bury it unless action was taken against the personnel involved.
Demanding the removal of army camp from the area, they shouted slogans and clashed with the security forces. In Baramulla, a number of people were injured, when clashes broke out between protesters and police.
The chief minister had then ordered an inquiry and promised that the guilty would be punished.
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