Machil fake encounter case: Confirmation of five convicted for life awaited

The confirmation of life sentence of five and not seven persons, as earlier reported by the Ministry of Defence sources, is yet to be done by appropriate authorities, as per Army sources.

"The initial media reports were incorrect. Five have been found guilty, recommended for life imprisonment after Court Martial," say army sources.

"Process is still not completed as the confirmation of the sentence is yet to be done by appropriate auth," the army sources were further quoted, as saying.

Earlier in the day, Ministry of Defence sources gave out the reports of seven persons being convicted, including two officers and five soldiers, for their involvement in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case.

Three youths - Mohamad Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed and Riyaz Ahmed were allegedly lured to a border area and shot dead in 2010.

Security forces had earlier claimed that they had killed three infiltrators and recovered five AK47 rifles, ammunition and Pakistani currency from them in the Machil sector.

According to reports, the J and K Police found that the men killed by the security forces were actually innocent civilians, who were reported missing from a village in Baramulla District.