Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has praised Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s move to order an inquiry into the Ganderbal encounter. The probe was ordered after allegations of a fake encounter surfaced in the Valley, since the family of the alleged militant claimed that he was a common man and not a terrorist.
The family had also alleged that security forces involved in the encounter had “staged” the encounter.
During his media interaction on the sidelines of an event, Omar said the administration acted swiftly without attempting to suppress the issue.
“The good thing is that there was no attempt to hide anything. The respected LG quickly accepted our request for a time-bound and transparent probe into the incident,” he said.
The development comes following an encounter in the Arhama forests of Ganderbal on March 31, in which the Army had claimed that it killed one terrorist.
The deceased was identified as Rashid Ahmad Mughal, a resident of Ganderbal, following which the family claimed that it was a fake encounter and demanded the return of the body for proper burial.
“The inquiry is going on. Once they complete it, the report will be made public. Our primary focus should be to avoid such incidents. But if it happens, the truth should not be hidden. People should be told the truth,” he said.