CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO) has alleged that an encounter near Morinda on the night of April 6, in which the police claim to have killed three militants was fake The organization has sought an independent inquiry into the incident which, it alleges, was stage- managed by the Ropar police to claim a reward of Rs 20 lakh Based on the findings of a team led by Justice (retd) Ajit Singh Bains which visited the spot, the PHRO has alleged that no encounter took place. No bullet marks were found on the trees nor blood stains on the ground, to indicate that an exchange of fire had taken place.
The organization asserts that if the militants were armed with AK- 56 rifles and a rocket launcher and were ruthless killers there should have been heavy firing The IHRO claims that eyewitness accounts also indicated that only a few shots were fired and there was no cross- firing.
The PHRO alleges that the three young men were killed by the Ropar police in cold blood. The organization doubts whether the three identified by the police as dreaded militants Harjit Singh Khojkipur, Daljit Singh and Sukhjit Singh were militants at all. The PHRO alleges that the Ropar police has used this fake encounter to claim a reward of Rs 20 lakh placed on the head of militants. Continue Etna stir been convened for May 29 to chalk out the strategy for a peaceful agitation.
He said a detailed master plan should be made to locate the office of the Tibetan secretariat and the residence of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
“It will strengthen the security of the Tibetans and will not create any tension between the two com- munities here,” he said,
Kapoor said it was sad that the Chief Minister, who had visited Dharamsala twice after the stabbing incident, did not bother to meet the family of the deceased youth. “Neither any district officials cared to visit the bereaved family of an ex-serviceman,” he said. ASK DR. NILIAD
Article extracted from this publication >> May 27, 1994
