Hearing on case against Army chief-designate on May 16

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday adjourned till May 16 the final hearing in the alleged fake encounter case involving Lt General Bikram Singh, the Army Chief designate.

Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir adjourned the case for final disposal of the petition.

A woman from Macchil area of Kupwara district last year filed a writ petition before the High Court, alleging that her son Abdullah Bhat was killed in a fake encounter in Anantnag in March 2001 and later branded as a Pakistani militant 'Mateen Chacha'.

A woman filed a writ petition, alleging that her son was killed in a fake encounter in Anantnag in March 2001 and later termed as a militant.

She has sought directions from the court for reinvestigation of the incident in which five persons, including two armymen, were killed.

While Colonel JP Janu and Rifleman Ganesh Kumar were killed, Gen Singh and another officer were injured in the attack. The assailant and two civilians were also killed in the incident.

The Defence ministry, the state government and SSP Anantnag, who have been named as respondents in the case, have already filed their objections to the petition, seeking its dismissal.

According to the objections filed by the defence ministry, Lt Gen Singh, who was then a brigadier commanding the 1 Sector Rashtriya Rifles in south Kashmir, was returning to Anantnag after visiting various army units.

Later, when the army convoy stopped at Janglat Mandi in Anantnag, a militant disguised as a beggar opened indiscriminate fire upon the armymen.

The Defence Ministry has termed the petition as an "afterthought" as it was filed 10 years after the incident took place.

The SSP, in his objections, said the petition was not maintainable and people with vested interests, who had cases of subversion pending against them, were behind it.

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