SRINAGAR, APRIL 11: The credibility of the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police is at stake as the truth is eventually revealed regarding the alleged encounter in which the Army and the police claimed to have killed five militants responsible for the recent massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chittisinghpora.``It is an embarrassment for us,'' a senior police officer said. Added an Army officer on condition of anonymity, ``Once the truth is established, the perpetrators of such a heinous crime will be punished. We are proud of being a part of one of the most disciplined and professional Armies in the world; our institution will never tolerate such an incident.''He, however, said it was difficult for him to believe that innocent civilians had been killed in a fake encounter and had been branded militants.The relatives of all the missing villagers from Brariangan, Halan and Mominabad in Anantnag identified the bodies of `militants', alleging that the `encounter' had been faked to take credit for the elimination of the killers before Union Home Minister L K Advani, who visited the massacre site on March 26.``It is a shame. I can't believe that they could go to such an extent and butcher civilians in order to receive felicitations,'' another police officer said.The top Army and police officers of south Kashmir had also reportedly briefed Advani at the temporary airstrip in Chittisinghpora, regarding the killing of the five ``foreign militants'', calling the encounter `Operation Kripan'.When Advani reportedly enquired about the officers who had killed the militants, he was introduced to two Company Commanders of 7 Rashtriya Rifles and Deputy Superintendent of Police (Special Operations Group) Tejinder Singh. A map detailing the operation site was displayed on a blackboard and the officers even called the lensmen for a photo session with the visiting dignitary.Though the official stance is that the DNA results will ultimately help identify the exhumed bodies, there is no doubt in the minds of relatives of the missing villagers. ``I did not even need to see the bodies. I was convinced when the half-burnt maroon sweater and shirt were recovered from a grave,'' said Nazir Ahmad Dalal, whose nephew Zahoor Ahmad Dalal is among those missing.Rumours are also rife over the fact that the results of DNA tests might be tampered with. ``Even the government has no doubts about the identity of thefive bodies, but they are not sincere enough to take action against the culprits,'' another villager said. ``The wait for DNA tests is a tactic to buy time. They know that after a month nobody here would remember the incident,'' he added.He explained the reason for this lack of confidence. ``The police had recently claimed that as per the DNA analysis, the body exhumed from an Anantnag village belonged to one of the four abducted Western tourists, Paul Wells,'' he said. ``The DNA test was, however, negated by forensic labs in Britain, which ruled out the body to be that of Wells.''There is growing consensus among police officers that if the DNA testestablishes the truth, every official involved in the operation should be punished as per law. ``You talk of damage to the police credibility among the general public. I am not even able to face my wife and children. How will any sane human being approve of such a crime, that too perpetrated by people in uniform,'' a senior police officer said.The government has suspended former Anantnag SSP Farooq Khan and SHO Achabal Gazzanfar. Both the officers had been earlier shifted from Anantnag. The DSP (Special Operations Group) Tejinder Singh has also been transferred.
