Shopian encounter: Police charge sheet says Army captain, 2 others attempted to destroy evidence
Shopian: The Army captain involved in the fake encounter in Kashmir's Shopian district last July and two other civilian accused haven't provided any information about the source of weapons planted on the three slain youths and had also attempted to destroy the evidence, a police charge sheet said.
Captain Bhoopendra Singh had also provided wrong information to his superiors and the police about the recovery made during the staged encounter, the charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police before the chief judicial magistrate here said.
The case relates to the July 18, 2020 encounter in Shopian's Amshipura in which three youths were killed and dubbed as terrorists. Later, the Army ordered a Court of Inquiry after reports appeared on social media that the three youths were innocent.
"No leads regarding the source of illegal weapons as illegally arranged by accused" for planting on the bodies were provided, the charge sheet said.
"By staging the encounter," the three accused "have purposefully destroyed evidence or real crime that they have committed and also have (been) purposefully projecting false information as part of a criminal conspiracy hatched between them with the motive to grab a prize money of Rs 20 lakh," it said.
The Army, however, had denied that its captain staged the encounter for Rs 20 lakh, saying there was no system of cash rewards for its personnel for any acts in combat situations or otherwise in the line of duty.
"The evidence was destroyed by accused Captain Singh," the charge sheet said.
Singh, who has been placed under detention, along with the other two accused -- Tabish Nazir and Bilal Ahmed Lone -- set fire to a shelter at the encounter site, according to the charge sheet.
The accused captain was in touch with Fayaz Ahmed, a special police officer (SPO) posted with the Special Operations Group, through two mobile numbers registered in the name of civilians.
Ahmed, who is listed as a witness in this case, was approached by Singh for arranging weapons. A resident of Poonch in Jammu region, Ahmed gave his statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before a magistrate.
The SIT charge sheet gave details of forensic analysis of the crime scene which was photographed "from all possible perspectives". The FSL (Forensic and Scientific Laboratory) team recovered vital evidence that was seized.
Based on responses filed by 62 Rashtriya Rifles to the SIT about details of the ammunition fired during the incident along with a copy of SITREP (Situation Report), the "accused captain had claimed to have (sic) fired a total of 37 rounds from his service rifle".
The Army, in its FIR registered at Heerpora police station, had claimed that based on "their own input about hiding of unknown terrorists in village Amshipora", the encounter was launched on July 17, 2020 during which three unidentified hardcore terrorists were neutralised.
Two pistols with two magazines and four empty pistol cartridges, 15 live cartridges and 15 empty cartridges of AK series weapon and other objectionable items were recovered from the encounter site.
However, during the ballistic and forensic examination of the scene of crime, four empty cartridges were recovered -- two of which were from 7.65 mm and two from 9 mm pistols (used by the Army).
"The seized fifteen 7.62x39 mm rifle cartridge cases (used in AK rifles) were found to have been fired from more than four firearms.
"From the circumstances at the crime scene which are contrary to the findings of the ballistic expert opinion the version of the accused captain Bhoopendra Singh... regarding information furnished by him in FIR is not supported."
There was no seizure of AK rifles from the staged encounter.
The Army, which has also completed its Court of Inquiry and Summary of Evidence, had found "prima facie" evidence that troops had "exceeded" powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during the encounter in which the three youths were killed.
Following this, the Army had initiated disciplinary proceedings.
The three youths killed in Amshipura were Imtiyaz Ahmed, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammed Ibrar, all hailing from Rajouri district. Their identities were subsequently confirmed through a DNA test and the bodies were handed over to their families in Baramulla in October last year.
The charge sheet said the Army captain had taken a private car on the day of the encounter.
Aijaz Ahmed Lone, the vehicle owner, gave a statement under oath before a magistrate that Army personnel had approached him at his residence on July 17 last year and taken his car.
Subsequently, on the day of the encounter, the Army informed him that his vehicle was stationed at Amshipura Nar "in a faulty condition".
General Officer in Command of XV Corps Lt Gen B S Raju had said earlier that the Summary of Evidence had been completed and the Army will take the next course of action as per the law.
Officials in the know of the development said Singh may face a Court Martial proceeding for violating the powers vested under the AFSPA and not following the dos and don'ts of the Chief of Army Staff as approved by the Supreme Court.
The charge sheet submitted by the SIT has listed 75 witnesses in support of its findings and has also provided technical evidence including call data records of the accused persons.
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Sydney church stabbing being treated as act of terrorism, Australian police say
Sydney (AP): Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism.
Police arrested a 16-year-old boy Tuesday after the stabbing at Christ the Good Shepherd Church that injured Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and a priest. Both are expected to survive.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the suspect's comments pointed to a religious motive for the attack.
“We'll allege there's a degree of premeditation on the basis that this person has travelled to that location, which is not near his residential address, he has travelled with a knife and subsequently the bishop and the priest have been stabbed,” Webb said. “They're lucky to be alive.”
The teenager was known to police but was not on a terror watch list, Webb said.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation's main domestic spy agency, and Australian Federal Police had joined state police in a counter-terrorism task force to investgate who else was potentially involved.
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said the investigation had yet to uncover any associated threats.
"It does appear to be religiously motivated, but we continue our lines of investigation," Burgess said.
“Our job is to look at individuals connected with the attacker to assure ourselves that there is no-one else in the community with similar intent. At this stage, we have no indications of that,” Burgess added.
On ASIO's advice, the risk of a terrorist attack in Australia is rated at “possible.” That is the second lowest level after “not expected” on the five-tier National Terrorism Threat Advisory System.
In response to the attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “there is no place for violence in our community. There's no place for violent extremism.”
The Christ the Good Shepherd in suburban Wakeley streams sermons online and worshippers watched as a person in black clothes approached the altar and stabbed the bishop and priest Isaac Royel during a church service Monday evening before the congregation overpowered him, police said.
A crowd of hundreds seeking revenge gathered outside the Orthodox Assyrian church, hurling bricks and bottles, injuring police officers and preventing police from taking the teen outside, officials said.
The teen suspect and at least two police officers were also hospitalized, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Andrew Holland told journalists.
The church in a message on social media said the bishop and priest were in stable condition and asked for people's prayers. “It is the bishop's and father's wishes that you also pray for the perpetrator,” the statement said.
Holland commended the congregation for subduing the teen before calling police. When asked if the teen's fingers had been severed, he said the hand injuries were “severe.”
More than 100 police reinforcements arrived before the teen was taken from the church in the hours-long incident. Several police vehicles were damaged, Holland said.
“A number of houses have been damaged. They've broken into a number of houses to gain weapons to throw at the police. They've thrown weapons and items at the church itself. There were obviously people who wanted to get access to the young person who caused the injuries to the clergy people,” he said.
Australians were still in shock after a lone assailant stabbed six people to death in a Sydney shopping mall on Saturday and injured more than a dozen others.
Holland suggested the weekend attack heightened the community's response to the church stabbing.
“Given that there has been incidents in Sydney the last few days with knives involved, obviously there's concerns,” he said. “We've asked for everyone to think rationally at this stage. We spoke to community leaders and members of the community to speak to their local people, to try and keep people calm."
The premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, described the scenes as “disturbing” on social media and urged the community to remain calm and “stick together.” Religious leaders expressed shock and condolences.
Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone, leader of the neighboring municipal government, described the bishop as a community leader. “This is a very emotional situation. Obviously the community is very upset,” Carbone said.
Christ the Good Shepherd had been preparing for Palm Sunday later this month.
The church said in a statement on Tuesday the 53-year-old Iraq-born bishop's condition was “improving.”
Emmanuel has a strong social media following and is outspoken on a range of issues. He proselytizes to both Jews and Muslims and is critical of liberal Christian denominations.
He also speaks out on global political issues and laments the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
The bishop, described in local media as a figure sometimes seen as divisive on issues such as COVID-19 restrictions, was in national news last year with comments about gender.
A video posted in May 2023 by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. about a campaign targeting the LGBTQ+ community showed the bishop in a sermon saying that “when a man calls himself a woman, he is neither a man nor a woman, you are not a human, then you are an it. Now, since you are an it, I will not address you as a human anymore because it is not my choosing, it your choosing.”
