Army Initiates Court-Martial Against Captain Over Staged J&K Encounter in 2020

Indian Army personnel taking positions in an orchard during a crackdown on a village in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo Courtesy: PTI)

The Indian Army has initiated general court martial proceedings against Captain Bhoopendra Singh, over a year-and-a-half after three people were killed in an "encounter" with security forces at Amshipora in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district in July 2020.

A Court of Inquiry found that the troops had “exceeded” powers vested under the AFSPA, news agency PTI reported, quoting officials.

The officials said the captain was facing court martial proceedings for violating powers vested under the AFSPA or also not following the Do’s and Don’ts of the Army that have been approved by the Supreme Court.

In December 2020, the Indian Army had said that the 'summary of evidence' proceedings into the 18 July Amshipora Shopian ‘encounter’ case had been completed. An initial army inquiry had also arrived at the same conclusion then.

The SIT & the Charge Sheet

In July 2020, immediately after the news of the fake encounter spread, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had set up a Special Investigation Team which filed a charge sheet against three people, including Captain Bhoopendra Singh.

According to PTI, the charge sheet had alleged that Captain Singh had provided wrong information to his superiors as well as the police about the recovery made during the encounter. The charge sheet also named two others, both civilians - Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone.

“By staging the encounter, the three accused have purposefully destroyed evidence or real crime that they have committed and also have (been) purposefully projecting false information as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched between them with the motive to grab cash rewards," the charge sheet said.

What Had Happened?

The incident came under the scanner when families from Rajouri claimed that their kin, who went to Shopian to work as labourers, had gone missing. The family had also accused the army of killing them in a staged gun battle.

The results of the DNA samples of the family members had matched with the three persons – Imtiyaz Ahmad, Abrar Ahmad and Mohammad Ibrar – killed during the operation.

The families claimed they or their kin had no affiliation with any militant group, and demanded an investigation into the killing, and a return of the bodies, causing the Defence PRO to say in August 2020 that the Army would investigate the matter.

Their bodies were exhumed and handed to the families in Rajouri.

(With inputs from PTI.)