Bodies of three men killed in Shopian encounter to be exhumed, given to family

In a major development, the DNA samples of three people killed in an alleged fake encounter with the Army in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in July has matched with that of their families.
 
Inspector General of Police, kashmir, Vijay kumar said: “ Since DNA samples matched with family, three dead bodies will be exhumed and handed over to families after due process of law”.

When asked whether the three men killed in the encounter were indeed labourers and not involved in terror activities, the senior police officer refrained from giving a straight forward answer and said “the police are now taking up further investigations in the case."

Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday arrested two people in the case who have been sent to eight days of police remand by a local court. According to reports, the arrested are believed to be local collaborators 

"We have arrested two persons in connection with the case," a senior police officer said to the media.

On July 18, the security forces had claimed to kill three men in an anti-terror operation in the Amshipura village of south Kashmir's Shopian district. But soon after social media reports emerged indicating that the three men were from Rajouri and had gone missing from their village. 

The families claimed that the three men killed in the encounter worked as labourers in Shopian and lodged a police complaint.

Considering the social media reports and complaints from the family, the army and the Jammu and Kashmir police initiated an inquiry into the case. 

On September 18 the army in its enquiry did accept that the security personnel had exceeded their powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during the encounter and initiated disciplinary proceedings.

The DNA sampling has come a day after Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) said the investigation of the encounter has entered its final stage.