Family members of three boys killed in a “fake” encounter in south Kashmir’s Shopian in July 2020, today dubbed as “grave injustice” the suspension of the life sentence of the Army captain and the grant of bail to him in the case.
As the news of the armed forces tribunal granting relief to Captain Bhoopendra Singh reached the village in Rajouri district of Jammu the men were from, their grieving families vowed not to remain silent and decided to move a higher court.
Suspending the sentence, the tribunal yesterday granted conditional bail to the Captain and directed him to appear before its principal registrar at regular intervals from January next year.
The three men hailing from Rajouri district of Jammu region — Imtiyaz Hussain, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Abrar — were killed in the remote hilly village in Shopian district on July 18, 2020, and labelled as “terrorists”.
Refusing to accept the tribunal’s decision, the families said they would take the matter to a higher court, seeking justice for their sons and hoping to reach the truth behind the fateful encounter.
“We are poor people and feel we were denied justice. We were expecting the death sentence for the captain for killing three innocents in cold blood. We will not stay silent and challenge the order of the tribunal,” .
They said the three victim families would fight for justice together. “We will move the higher court and appeal against the order of the tribunal”.