15 yrs after Poonch fake encounter,CBI files case

This has been done following a written request from the CBI two day ago,he added.

Fifteen years after the killing of 19 Muslims including women and children in Poonch,the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI registered a case against some police officials and army personnel posted there.

Confirming this,official sources told The Indian Express this has been done on the direction of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The FIR has been registered in accordance with directions of the court, they added.

We have sent all relevant records pertaining to the case to CBIs Jammu office, a senior police officer said.

This has been done following a written request from the CBI two day ago,he added. The army and police officials booked are in senior positions now,sources said. Even two Special Police Officers have been promoted.

The killings were then attributed to militants. The High Court in November last,following a petition,ordered the CBI to investigate. Twelve children aged 3-9 years and four women were among the 19 killed in August 1998.

Petitioners counsel Pervez Imroz drew the attention of the court to the State Human Rights Commission pointing fingers at army and police personnel. However,as the CBI did not take up investigations,the petitioners again approached court. CBI submitted that the matter being linked to terrorism has to be investigated by the National Investigation Agency. The petitioners filed a contempt petition last month following which the CBI began investigations.

According to the petitioners,Imtiyaz,one of those killed,had joined militant ranks during school days and his family made him surrender but he again joined militant ranks due to harassment by police and army personnel. On August 3,1998,Imtiyaz allegedly killed an SPO. Fearing retaliation,Imtiyazs family took refuge in the house of Shabir,one of the petitioners. Army personnel,along with some local policemen and informers,raided the house and allegedly took all people there to the nearby house of Shabirs uncle. They killed the 19 people,the petition pointed out,adding Shabir was the lone survivor who managed to give them the slip.