New Delhi: A week after bodies of three villagers killed in an alleged fake encounter were exhumed, complaints about missing people have started pouring in, raising fears that those missing may have been killed.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have been flooded with complaints and enquiries about encounters, which go back to more than five to six years and in some cases even eight years.
Suspicion surrounds the Tangdhar encounter in April. The Army had claimed to have killed two militants, but police sources said that the bodies they got were decomposed. Police are trying to find out if the photographs of any of those missing match with the victims.
The other case being probed is about two young people, who survived a murderous racket in the Keran sector last month. Shariq and Zahoor alleged that they were lured with the promise of jobs.
"They were taken to Keran. We immediately swung into action. I informed the Army and through them, we recovered these two men from Keran," said M Yousf, Superintendent of Police, Kupwara.
Even as more complaints about alleged fake encounters in Kashmir are being investigated, there's cynicism, which is stemming from the fact that though several Army officers were indicted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the police in the Pathribal and Ganderbal fake encounters, no action was taken.
Commenting on the issue, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, "There is a need for transparency. Army is judge, jury and hangman.''
Army may have promised a fair probe and cooperation with police investigations into Machil fake encounter. The big question is will this investigation be any different from previous probes into innocents killing in Kashmir.