The Hindu : 3 Ikhwan militants get life-term for murder

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 11, 2002

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3 Ikhwan militants get life-term for murder

By Our Special Correspondent

SRINAGAR NOV. 10. For the first time in 13 years of militancy, a local court has sentenced to life, three members of the pro-Government outfit, Ikhwan, for abducting and burning to death a forest official in January 1996.

The District and Sessions Judge, Pulwama Moulvi Javed, granted life imprisonment to Abdul Ahad Rather, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, and Zahoor Ahmed Ahangar, members of Jobiara (Awantipore) based camp of the Ikhwan.

The judgment came after police produced a challan against the trio. They are reported to have confessed to the crime.They had abducted a Forester, Ghulam Mohammad Shah, from his Boohu residence in Pulwama district, and subjected him to third degree torture at an Ikhwan camp adjacent to an Army camp. His family tried their best to free him but failed.

A relative of Shah said: ``They (Ikhwanis) wrapped polythene sheets around his body and set him on fire''. Shah was handed over to Awantipore police in a critical condition and he later succumbed to injuries.Protests rocked the area, forcing the police to register an FIR.

However, alleged intervention from the Army prevented the police from arresting the Ikhwan militants. But later all the three were arrested and investigations were begun under Sections RPC 302 and 365. After six years of investigations and judicial process the trio was sentenced to life. The judgment has been widely hailed by the public.

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