J038;K probes another 145;fake146; encounter, Army man among two held

The police in JK are probing what appears to be another fake encounter and have exhumed the body of the victim, a 27-year-old labourer, from Bandipore.

The police in J038;K are probing what appears to be another fake encounter and have exhumed the body of the victim, a 27-year-old labourer, from Bandipore.

Rifleman Tahir Pathan of the 3 JAK Rifles and an Army 8220;source8221;, who spilled the beans, have been arrested in connection with the killing of Mohammad Ashraf Sheikh of Larnoo in Kukernag who had been passed off as a militant.

Police claimed Sheikh was killed because the Army 8220;source8221; had been promised Rs 1 lakh in exchange for the capture of a militant. A case has also been registered against the Army.

8220;It is a case of murder for monetary gain. Two people have been arrested, one is an Army man,8221; B Srinivasan, IGP Operations, North Kashmir told The Indian Express. 8220;We were busy exhuming the body today so that it could be handed over to the family. We will investigate the case and take necessary action against whosoever in involved in this murder,8221; he said. The Army spokesman was not available for comment.

Incidentally, Mohammad Ashraf Sheikh was the neighbour of Abdul Rehman Padroo, the carpenter whose killing in a fake encounter by J038;K Police and the Army last year led to inquiries which revealed that five civilians had been killed in fake encounters and passed off as Pakistani militants.

On June, 3, Sheikh disappeared from Srinagar where he had been working as a manual labourer. The police learnt of his murder when it arrested Riyaz Ahmad Chichi of Aragam, Bandipore after a local soldier complained that Chichi had abducted his daughter. The soldier from Bandipore had approached the Budgam police who on June 11 traced Chichi and the girl to S D Colony, Batamaloo in Srinagar.

8220;We recovered a card from him Chichi which identified him as a source of the Army in Bandipore,8221; a police officer told The Indian Express. The Budgam police asked their Bandipore counterparts to run a check on Chichi8217;s antecedents. The Bandipore police, in the meantime, were already on the lookout for Chichi because they had information that he was seen with Mohammed Ashraf Sheikh before the 8220;encounter8221;.

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During questioning, police claimed Chichi said he had hired a labourer Sheikh from Srinagar for Rs 200 a day, taken him to Bandipore where Armymen staged an 8220;encounter8221;, placed a gun on his body and passed him off as a militant. Police claimed Chichi named an Army Major and said he had promised to 8220;capture a militant for the unit8221; in exchange for Rs 1 lakh.