Major accused of 96 murder arrested in US

The Interpol has intimated the state government and asked for a fresh warrant issued for his extradition to India.

Major Avtar Singh,an Army officer wanted by the Interpol for allegedly murdering a human rights activist in the Valley in 1996 and absconding ever since,has been arrested in the US. The Interpol has intimated the state government and asked for a fresh warrant issued for his extradition to India.

He has been arrested in the US and the Interpol has informed us, said Inspector General of Crime Raja Ajaz Ali whose department is the nodal agency for the Interpol in Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh has been held at Fresno County jail in Selma,California. It is learnt that the police was pursuing domestic violence charges against Singh filed by his wife who reportedly also spilled the beans about his alleged involvement in a murder in Kashmir.

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We have deputed a team to Delhi to discuss the extradition with the Central Bureau of Investigation, said Ali.

Ali added that the state government has to issue a fresh warrant for Singh after his arrest in the US and it will be easy for the government to get him extradited as the US has stringent laws against human rights violations.

Singh,who hails from Yamuna Nagar,Haryana,is accused of having arrested lawyer-activist Jalil Andrabi (36) on March 8,1996. Andrabi was picked up while driving home with his wife,Rifat. His decomposed body was recovered from Jhelum on March 27,1996.

The autopsy report said Andrabi had probably been murdered 14 days ago. In June 1996,a Special Investigation Team (SIT),set up on the directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court,started its probe and its report to the court in 1997 identified an Army Major posted at Rawalpora Camp of the 103 Territorial Army as prima facie responsible for the death.