J&K fake encounter: Major suspended, Col removed

An Army Major named in the alleged fake encounter case in Jammu and Kashmir was suspended on Sunday.  Another Army Colonel was also removed from command.

The action came after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met senior officials of the Army and police at a high level meeting in Srinagar on Sunday. 

The meeting was attended by senior commanders of the Army, state's police chief and state intelligence officials.

Commenting on the issue, Abdullah said, "There is a need for transparency. Army is judge, jury and hangman."

Earlier, Abdullah had rubbished all reports that the state government tried to hush up the matter.

"Machil encounter did not come to light due to some protest. Separatists did not tell us to investigate, nor the opposition, or the locals. The police have initiated the investigation on its own. If we wanted to hush it up, why would we initiate investigation into it?" he added.

The Jammu and Kashmir police have filed a case of abduction and murder against a few security personnel for an encounter in which three people were killed on April 30. 

Security forces had claimed that they had killed three infiltrators and recovered five AK-47 rifles, ammunition and Pakistani currency from them in the Machil sector. 

According to reports, the Jammu and Kashmir police found that the men killed by the security forces were actually innocent civilians, who were reported missing from a village in Baramulla district.