BJP welcomes Machil encounter verdict

Welcoming the decision, BJP state spokesperson Altaf Thakur told IBNS: "We welcome this decision and in same verdict should be done in other cases like Patribal and  the recent one in Chitargam Nowgam Srinagar where the Army killed two youths and injured two others in a direct firing on Nov 3."

The party spokesperson further said that it is a 'great news' for the people of the state when time has come and the Indian Army accepted the guilt that 'we killed innocents in the Kashmir valley'.

Seven army men, including two officers, were convicted and sentenced to life for the killing of three Kashmir youths in 2010 in a fake encounter in Machil in militancy-wracked state, said reports on Thursday.

All the convicted army personnel were given life imprisonment while all their service benefits have been suspended.

The Army hads ordered court martial proceedings against the soldiers for their  involvement in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case.

Another spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir's leading apposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Nayeem Akther said: "We welcome this decision and it is a positive development for Kashmir and the common men of the Valley."

He added that similar action should be taken into the fake Patribal encounter case.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah  tweeted: "The army has handed out life sentences to 7 inc the CO in the Machil fake encounter case of 2010. This is indeed a very welcome step. This is a watershed moment. No one in Kashmir ever believed that justice would be done in such cases. Faith in institutions disappeared. I hope that we never see such #Machil fake encounter type of incidents ever again & let this serve as a warning to those tempted to try."

Colonel DK Pathania, the Commanding Officer of 4 Rajput Regiment, the unit involved in the fake encounter, and Major Upinder  among others had to face court martial for their involvement.

On April 30, 2010, the Army said it had killed three infiltrators in the Machil sector, who they claimed were Pakistani terrorists.

The three men who were killed were later identified as Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone and Muhammad Shafi Lone. They were all residents of Nadihal in Baramulla district.

The victims' families alleged that the Army lured them to a border area on the pretext of giving them jobs. They alleged that the men were later killed and were claimed as terrorists.

In July 2010, the Jammu and Kashmir police filed a chargesheet against Col Pathania, Major Upinder and seven others in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Sopore.

The court martial order came after an exhaustive enquiry was conducted with the assistance of state police and judicial department to summon witnesses, record evidence and establish culpability of the accused personnel.

Besides the officials, others convicted were Subedar Satbir Singh, Havildar Bir Singh, Sepoy Chadraban, Sepoy Nagendra Singh and Sepoy Narinder Singh. 

An Army officer based on Badami Bagh Srinagar Army Headquarter told IBNS that this decision wascame either from Udhampur or New Delhi.

He said that when a case was registered against these culprits then investigation team had decided not to run a case in Srinagar and it  should be done in Udhampur or New Delhi.

He added that the Army is committed to zero human right violations in the Kashmir Valley and recently the Army found there own men involved in Chitargam killings and this 'shows that how we respect the loss of life of common people'.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)