DHAKA: Seven army personnel get life sentence, including two officers, in connection with the Machil fake encounter killing of three youths in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010. 

Chief minister Omar Abdullah said “the Army has handed out life sentences to seven including the Commanding officer in the Machil fake encounter case of 2010.”

“This is indeed a very welcome step,” Omar said in a tweet on Thursday, reports the Times of India.

Hailing the verdict of the general court martial, Omar tweeted, “This is a watershed moment. No one in Kashmir ever believed that justice would be done in such cases. Faith in institutions disappeared.

“I hope that we never see such #Machil fake encounter type of incidents ever again and let this serve as a warning to those tempted to try.”

However, Army sources in New Delhi said that only five personnel have been sentenced and a confirmation process is on.

The court martial proceedings began in January this year and ended in September.

In April, 2010, army had said it had killed three infiltrators in the Machil sector and claimed they were Pakistani militants.

The men were later identified as Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone and Muhammad Shafi Lone, all residents of Baramulla district.

The families of the deceased claimed the Army had lured the three to a border area promising those jobs and money before later killing them near the line of control and claiming that they were terrorists.

The killings sparked widespread protests in Kashmir valley, which snowballed into a full-fledged agitation lasting till mid-October in 2010.

BDST: 1751 HRS, NOV 13, 2014