First counter insurgent to get life in JK

Srinagar, Jan 24: A local court in the frontier district of Kupwara has sentenced a counter insurgent Sarvar Ganai to life imprisonment and fined him for murdering a professor and his three family members in 1999.

The District and Session judge, Kupwara, Mohammad Nazir Fida also directed the police to arrest another counter insurgent Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh, also involved in the killing of Professor Mohammad Amin Peer, his wife Shariefa, daughter Snobar and his sister-in-law Rafia Begum on July 13,1999.

Mr Fida in his judgement, sentenced Sarvar to rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs one lakh under Section 302 RPC and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh for murdering the professor and his family members.

The judge also awarded him ten-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 for the murderous attack on other innocent people in north Kashmir when he (Sarvar) was working with the security forces.

The prosecution has demanded death sentence for Sarvar, saying it was a rarest of rare cases.

Sarvar Ganai a resident of Hayhama Kupwara was convicted for the murder on December 27, 2007. However, the judge deferred the judgement.

UNI