The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday cracked down on its personnel who were allegedly involved in fake encounters, arresting two senior officials on charges of murdering a carpenter who was labelled a Pakistani militant and gunned down.
Even as the Special Investigating Team probing the custodial killing of Abdul Rehman Paddar arrested Senior Superintendent of Police H R Parihar and his deputy Bhadur Ram, two more skeletons were exhumed at Bandipore in north Kashmir.
This is the first time that police officials of the rank of SSP or DSP have been arrested in connection with custodial killings or fake encounters since the militancy erupted in the state in the 1990s.
The duo was arrested and charged under section 302 (murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code by the SIT headed by Deputy Inspector General (Kashmir) Farooq Ahmed for their alleged role in Paddar's killing in December.
Parihar and Ram were nabbed this morning for their alleged role in the disappearance of Paddar, state police chief Gopal Sharma, who arrived here to supervise the investigations, told PTI.
Both officers were removed from active duty and attached to the office of the Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) after a case was registered on January 23 and 30 under sections 302 and 364 (kidnapping for murder) of RPC.
Parihar had been indicted by the State Human Rights Commission in 2000 for the alleged custodial killing of Kashmir University photographer Fayaz Ahmad Beigh. The state High Court had directed the government to register a case against him in 2003.
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