Appoint judge to probe fake encounters in JK

Srinagar, Feb 13: Urging Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to appoint a judge without any further delay to probe recent fake encounter killings in Kashmir, Panther Party (PP) chief Bhim Singh today announced formation of a five-member committee, which would collect all the information regarding the persons disappeared since 1989 in the state.

Talking to reporters here Prof Singh appreciated the steps taken by the government after the fake encounter killings of innocent persons surfaced in the Valley.

Never before any senior police officer has been arrested for violating human rights (HR), Prof Singh said, adding the HR of the people in the Jammu and Kashmir were being violated for the past half a century by successive regimes.

He said the immediate action of Mr Azad has generated a ray of hope that the affected families will get justice.

However, he said, delay in appointing a judge was a cause of worry.

The Chief Minister should immediately appoint the sitting or retired judge of a High Court so that the truth comes out, he said, adding the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police, probing the killings, will not do justice.

How can a DIG probe the Inspector General's conduct in the case?, he asked.

He said the killing of Paddar and others in fake encounters was not just a HR violation but a "murder".

The PP chief said there were complaints that a large number of people disappeared in the Kashmir valley after their arrest since 1989.

We have decided to set up a five-member committee headed by Advocate Bashir Ahmad which will start its working from tomorrow from a lower court complex here.

He said the committee would collect details about all disappeared persons from all the districts of the Kashmir division.

The process will continue for one month, he said and appealed to parents and other relatives of the missing people to approach the committee with full detail about their missing relatives.

He said the PP would fight for them and if necessary take the cases to the Supreme Court for getting justice.

UNI