Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Thursday said the test results of the DNA samples collected from the family members of three men from Rajouri, who were allegedly killed in a fake encounter in Shopian, will be out in a few days.
“The Army’s initial inquiry process is about to complete and they will act on the findings of the inquiry. I believe it is a matter of a few days before the results of the DNA samples are out,” Singh said at a press conference here.
He was responding to a reporter’s question about the delay in the findings of the DNA tests.
The DNA samples were collected from the members of three families in Rajouri district of Jammu on August 14.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently said he would ensure that there is no injustice to the families.
On July 18, the Army claimed that three militants were killed in the higher reaches of Shopian in south Kashmir. However, no further details were shared.
The controversy erupted after three families filed a complaint at a police station in Rajouri, stating that a member each was missing since July 17 from the Amshipora area of Shopian, where they were working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards.
The relatives of the three men, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in the Kotranka area of Rajouri, lodged the missing report with the local police after they failed to contact the trio and the news of an encounter came from Ashimpora on July 18.
Meanwhile, on the death of an alleged over-ground worker (OGW) in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar said after allegations by the family members of the deceased, a magisterial inquiry will be conducted.
“I told the SP (superintendent of police, Sopore) to write to the DM (district magistrate), Baramulla, requesting for a magisterial inquiry. The SP wrote the letter on Wednesday. Perhaps, an order (for the magisterial inquiry) would have been issued this morning,” he said at the press conference.
Protests have erupted in north Kashmir’s Sopore town after Irfan Ahmad Dar (24) allegedly died in police custody on Tuesday. While the police say Dar escaped from custody and his body was found later, the family of the deceased claims it was a “murder in custody”.
The IGP said he believes Dar fell on a stone and may have had a cardiac arrest, and died while trying to flee when the police were taking him to a spot for recovering ammunition.
“The SP has said Dar was an OGW, hand grenades were recovered from his possession and that he was being taken to the spot for more recovery during the night when he fled. He had no arms, so he did not fire and our jawans also did not fire. After some time, they found him. He had fallen on a stone. He also had an injury on his foot. He was taken to a hospital. Post-mortem and COVID tests were done. His family was called and he was buried in Sonamarg,” Kumar said.
Asked why Dar’s body was not handed over to his family, he said earlier, there was a written agreement after a militant had died in Sopore that only 50 to 60 men would attend the funeral, but 2,000 people had turned up.
“So we had apprehensions that 10,000 or 20,000 people may gather at the funeral and there was a risk of the spread of the (COVID) pandemic. That is why the body was not handed over to family,” the IGP said.
The DGP said let the inquiry happen so that the factual position comes out.
“We should not conduct an inquiry before an actual inquiry. Let the magisterial inquiry begin, the factual position will come out,” Singh said.
PTI

Press Trust of India