SRINAGAR — A rights advocacy group, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Wednesday said the former top cop, Ashiq Bukhari, should stand by his allegations against the former chief minister Omar Abdullah so that a criminal case is registered against him.
“As an immediate step, ex-SSP Ashiq Bukhari must stand by his statements and we will file a case against Omar Abdullah,” JKCCS said in a statement on Wednesday.
JKCCS said “these allegations confirm the truth that the extra-judicial executions, torture, disappearances and other crimes have been routinely used by the Indian state to control the population of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“Fake encounters, as proposed by Omar Abdullah in the case of Masarat Alam, has been a regular tool of the State,” the statement said.
“Money in the form of cash rewards for these crimes has fuelled and sustained the work of various armed forces personnel, including police, in carrying out crimes,” the JKCCS statement said.
The statement said the allegations made by the former cop substantiate the pre-existing evidence on the numerous fake encounters and other crimes committed in Jammu and Kashmir.
“These claims reiterate the urgent need for impartial and fair investigations to uncover the truth of past violations, including past attacks on political leaders such as Sheikh Aziz (2008), the chairman, Jammu Kashmir Peoples League,” the statement said.
“The statement of Omar Abdullah is reminiscent of the claim made by Farooq Abdullah who had said ‘my orders to the police are wherever you find a militant, dispatch him as I do not want to fill jails,'” the statement said.
The statement said Bukhari himself has numerous allegations of human rights violations against him.
“He is responsible for the killing of 18 persons in Srinagar upon taking control of Srinagar as SSP in June 2010,” the CCS statement said.
The body formal proceedings against the claims made by the former cop. “The cynical use of the media by criminal insiders to score personal political points is not a substitute for formal criminal proceedings,” the CCS said.