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| HC seeks fresh status report in Surankote massacre | | |
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Aug 8: The High Court directed the State Government to file a fresh status report in investigation of the death of 19 persons in a midnight massacre in Surankote area of Poonch district of Jammu region in 1998.
Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, who heard the matter admitted in February this year, issued directions to the government to furnish latest status report on the investigation within three weeks.
The massacre according to the petitioners took place during the night intervening August 3rd and 4th of 1998 at Sailan, about 14 kilometers from Surankote. The dead included children, women and aged persons besides a pregnant woman Zareena. Relatives of victims have sought directions from the court for reinvestigation of the incident by a Special Investigation Team of police or Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
Abdul Ahad son of Hussain Mohammad Sheikh, Mohammad Shabir son of Ahmad Din and Masood Ahmad Sheikh son of Lassa Sheikh residents of Sailan, Tehsil Surankote, had filed a petition against Director General of Police (J&K), union Defense Secretary, then SSP of Poonch, JP Singh, Major Goora 9 Para RR, Sewak Singh, then additional SP Poonch, and five others, including SHO Surankote.
Pertinently, on February 2, this year, court of District and Sessions Judge Jammu Court Jammu, convicted then Superintendent of Police (SP) Operation Surankote, Sewak Singh, and Constable Satpal Singh alias TT for killing Probationary Sub Inspector (PSI) Ajay Gupta in a fake encounter on October 13, 1998.
According to Parvez Imroz, counsel for relatives of Sailan carnage victims, Police are supposed to approach the concerned court for the closure of investigations under section 169 immediately after the completion of investigations in any case.
"The High Court now wants to ascertain whether the police had approached any court at the time it called off investigations in the matter or not", in last hearing of the matter Imroz had submitted before the court that an FIR No. 122/98 under sections 122, 122 B, 121, 302, 449 of RPC and 3 EAO was registered by policestation Surankote regarding the incident.
However, police closed up the case by dubbing it a massacre carried out by foreign militants. Parvez prayed adding that the case was closed without conducting any investigation just five months after the incident took place. The case was closed because the army and Police officials and the SPOs working for both were involved and they didn't want to expose the real culprits, Imroz had alleged.
"They were convinced that with the passage of time, the massacre will be part of statistics in killing list of J&K and they will get away with it," the counsel for relatives of slain Surankote civilians said.
He said the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) took a suo motto cognizance of the carnage and conducted an investigation.
"It is a glaring fact that when bloodbath of 19 persons was going on in the house of Ahmad Din, only 200 meters away army picket, supposed to be vigilant round the clock, did not intervene when civilians were ordered not to move after 6:30 pm. Uniformed persons were seen moving with torch lights around the scene of occurrence who later boarded a vehicle on the main road, is recorded in the inquiry report," Mr Imroz said.
Referring to SHRC report, he said that one SPO Zakir Hussain and his three associates worked for the army as informers in the area. "The SHRC inquiry states that an encounter occurred and Zakir fell to the bullets. Zakir Hussain and his side kicks were attempting to nab Imtiyaz a militant of Sailan. The group of slain Zakir lost their leader, army lost trusted informer and a father lost his son. While lifting his dead body, the army blatantly vowed to wipe out 20 persons before his burial," reads the petition.
The whole family of militant Imtiyaz together with the family of Ahmad Din got brutally killed on the same night when SPO Zakir was killed, the counsel for the petitioners said. |
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