JK: Court reserves order in fake encounter case

Srinagar, July 15: A local court here reserved its order till July 19 on a petition filed by the Army challenging the jurisdiction of the Jammu and Kashmir police in charging its personnel, including a Colonel, with the fake encounter killing of a civilian.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate reserved its order in the case pertaining to abduction and fake encounter killing of cleric Moulvi Showkat Ahmad Khatana of Banihal.

During the hearing, the prosecutors argued that personnel of 13 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Special Operation Group abducted and murdered Moulvi Khatana.

The Army had challenged the jurisdiction of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police to probe the alleged fake encounter killings of five civilians on the grounds that it had not obtained sanction from the Union Home Ministry.

The SIT had on April 12 charged five Army personnel, identified as Col Vikram Singh, Major Rishi, Puran Singh, V K Sharma and Satpal Singh, besides five police officials, including SP Hansraj Parihar, his deputy Bahadur Ram and four men of their escort, and a civilian with murder of the 27-year-old cleric.

Moulvi Khatana, who led prayers at a mosque at Alamgari Bazaar here, went missing on October 5 last year. Later, it was revealed that personnel of 13 RR and the SOG had killed him allegedly in a fake encounter at Baazipora Ajas in Bandipora district.

In the FIR, Moulvi Khatana was labelled as Abu Zahid of Karachi, Pakistan. Security forces had also claimed that he was killed in multiple ambushes and that an AK-47 rifle, some grenades and a wireless set were seized from his possession.

UNI