Conflict
Machil fake encounter: They were wearing Pathan suits, which is worn by terrorists, says Tribunal
New Delhi: A military tribunal which granted bail to five army men who were convicted in the Machil fake encounter justified the bail by saying the killed were terrorists as they wear wearing Pathani suits (traditional dress).
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, in its bail order, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), said, “The fact that the accused persons were terrorists… cannot be ruled out because they were wearing Pathan suits which are worn by terrorists.”
Pathani suit is a common men’s clothing across Kashmir.
In the Machil fake encounter three civilians were killed in cold blood by army men looking to collect a bounty on militants. Subsequently, an army court sentenced six, including a colonel, to life in jail but five of them went into appeal before the AFT in New Delhi.
The tribunal also said that there was ‘no justification’ for a civilian being so close to the Line of Control.
“There was absolutely no justification for a civilian to be present at such a forward formation near LoC, that too during the night when infiltration from across the border was high,” the AFT bench said, referring to the heavily militarised de facto boundary or the Line of Control (LoC).
The tribunal also added that the police complaint against the accused was delayed.
“Complaint was belatedly filed only to garner some sympathy or getting material monetary compensation on account of the alleged killing of their child.”
The Machil ‘encounter’ saw three men – Shazad Khan (27), Shafi Lone (19) and Riyaz Lone (20) –killed in a staged shooting in the early hours of April 30, 2010 at Sona Pindi in Machil sector of the LoC.
Later, investigations found the three were lured with the promise of jobs to an army camp in Kupwara where they were shot dead in order to claim a reward for killing militants.
