SRINAGAR, 17 July — Five people killed as militants by security forces two years ago in Jammu and Kashmir were actually innocent civilians, state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said yesterday.
The findings are based on DNA tests on samples taken from the exhumed bodies of the five men that were matched with their relatives, Farooq told the state assembly here.
“The (DNA) report has clearly established that the five slain persons were innocent locals and not foreign terrorists,” he said.
Security forces at Pathribal in south Kashmir had killed five Muslims shortly after gunmen shot dead 35 Sikhs in Chittisinghpora village.
The incident had occurred hours before US President Bill Clinton arrived in India on March 20, 2000. The police had named the five as those responsible for Sikhs’ killing. But protests had swelled in Anantnag from where the five men had gone missing, forcing the police to fire on a demonstration and kill eight protesters.
The highly controversial incident attracted international attention from rights groups. Public pressure pushed the government to exhume the bodies of the dead men and order a probe.
But the state government’s move to conduct DNA testing came under a cloud after forensic laboratories in Calcutta and Hyderabad said the DNA samples of the dead men that they were sent had been tampered with.
The disclosure had forced Farooq to suspend five officials who had collected the DNA samples. Forensic labs in carried out fresh tests that established the truth. The chief minister tabled the DNA report in the assembly.
The state legislature met under tight security here yesterday for the first time since it was attacked by militants last October.
Farooq said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would now investigate the murky affair revolving around the DNA tests.
“The CBI will hold a detailed probe into the incident and once the probe is completed the guilty will be punished. Not only will those involved be punished but they will be jailed.”
Meanwhile, Jammu city reopened for business yesterday as life began returning to normal after suspected militants massacred 28 slum dwellers, but many people remained fearful.
Despite Saturday’s bloody attack, residents began returning to the streets after a protest strike shut the city for much of Monday. Saturday’s raid in Jammu was the deadliest since a May attack on a nearby army camp that killed more than 30 people — in an incident that brought India and Pakistan to the edge of war.
Fears of conflict only receded when Pakistan pledged to curb infiltration into Kashmir by militants.
External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told Aaj Tak television news that efforts to improve ties with Pakistan had “been hit”, without elaborating.
Defense Minister George Fernandes also said yesterday Pakistan is directly to blame for acts of “terrorism” inside India, including the weekend massacre in Jammu.
“This terrorism will not last even a minute if Pakistan does not want it,” Fernandes said during debate in Parliament on Saturday’s massacre.
Police said eight people were killed in overnight violence and four troops and 20 civilians were injured in bombings yesterday in the Himalayan state.
In another development, a plan to appoint Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah as chief minister of Kashmir on July 25 has been deferred.
Omar, who was earlier set to succeed his father, Farooq Abdullah, may now take over only next month or later in view of the fluid political situation in the state, sources here said.
As the central government is reportedly contemplating dismissing Farooq’s government, there is now a rethink about Omar’s appointment, a National Conference leader said.
New Delhi has been mulling replacing Farooq’s rule with direct central administration to entice a string of separatist groups to participate in the assembly elections in October.
