Encounter case: Army can't record statements

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Sopore Tuesday rejected the army's application for permission to record the statements of the three accused in the Machil fake encounter case.

The accused who are presently on a judicial remand, include a Territorial Army trooper Abbas Hussain Shah and two civilians, Abdul Hamid Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Lone.

The alleged encounter which rocked Kashmir last month took place on April 30 when the army had claimed to have gunned down three infiltrating militants after foiling an infiltration bid in the Machil sector of the Line of Control (LoC).

The army has already ordered a high-level probe and removed a Colonel-rank officer from the command while a major has already been suspended.

Kousar Ahmad Qureshi CJM Sopore said that 'due to the unwillingness of police, the accused cannot be handed over to the army'.

The CJM had last week served a notice to the police and asked it to file its report whether they could handover the accused to the army or not since the investigation was still on.