Updated on
Summary Three policemen and an army officer have been arrested in Indian-held Kashmir for custodial killing.
They three also staged a faked gunbattle, claiming to have killed a Lashkar commander, whereas they had killed a mentally-retarded man.Last month, Nazim Rashid, a 28-year-old shopkeeper, died after being detained by counter-insurgency police in the northern town of Sopore in connection with an unsolved murder.The cause of his death was not disclosed, but it resulted in a one-day strike across the Himalayan state and promises from chief minister Omar Abdullah of swift and exemplary action.Two policemen have been arrested and a few others are under the scanner, a police officer said on condition of anonymity, adding that the arrests were made at the weekend.Certain arrests have been effected. Investigations are on-going and if need be more arrests will take place, Abdullah said.He also said authorities had begun investigating a case in which a civilian was killed and then apparently passed off as senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.Abdullah said a local soldier and a policeman were arrested Monday for making the security forces believe the civilian was a militant.Police on Sunday claimed to have killed Abu Usman, a senior commander of Lashkar in southern Poonch district during a 12-hour gunbattle.Police have been arrested in the past for killing civilians during gunbattles and then claiming them as militants in an apparent bid to gain rewards and promotions.In 2007, more than a dozen policemen were arrested for killing five civilians in separate gunbattles and passing them off as Pakistani militants.Human rights group say thousands of Indian Kashmiri youths have died in fake gunbattles.Police had already registered a murder case over Rashids death and suspended three officers. Rashids father has said his sons body bore torture marks.
