Father waits for justice, army says proceedings soon

Srinagar, Jul 29 (PTI):
A little over a year has passed but an anxious father is still awaiting justice for his son and two others who were killed in a fake encounter by an army officer in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. And the wait gets longer as the army is still finishing legal work six months after completion of its internal inquiry.
The army had completed its Summary of Evidence against two of its soldiers involved in the Amshipura encounter in which three youths were killed and indications were that a court martial proceeding against one officer would be initiated.
In a parallel inquiry, a Special Investigation Team constituted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police had filed charge sheet against three persons including Captain Bhoopendra Singh for “staging a fake encounter” in the higher reaches of Shopian district and killing three youths — Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar, hailing from Rajouri district of Jammu region — in Amshipura on July 18 last year.
“I have lost my son. I was very satisfied earlier with the pace of the probe but now it seems that my hope has started diminishing as nothing is moving since last December. I have received Rs five lakh from the Jammu and Kashmir administration.
Is that the price of my innocent son and others killed in cold blood,” Mohammed Yusuf, father of Abrar Ahmed, told PTI from Rajouri over phone.
The army, however, maintained that the process of Summary of Evidence had been completed and the papers for the beginning of the final process were likely to be initiated soon. “We will be completing the process soon and the person concerned is still in close custody (jail) with the army,” a senior officer said on the condition of anonymity.
A sobbing Yusuf contended that the plight of a father who had lost his son needs to be understood. “God forbid, if my son would have been a militant, me and my entire family would have been behind bars. But now when everyone says they were killed in a cold blooded murder, what is taking it so long. Justice delayed is also justice denied,” he said.
Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha had visited the families in Rajouri last year and conveyed to them Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message that the government stands with the aggrieved families, and they will be taken care of with all support from the government.