Survivors of 1998 Kashmir massacre accuse CBI of 'inaction'

Seventeen years after 19 members of three families were kil1ed in Jammu and Kashmir's Salian village, survivors and relatives of the victims on Monday protested here, accusing the CBI of "inaction and cover-up".

On the intervening night of August 3 and 4, 1998, 19 people, including 11 children and five women, were killed allegedly by security forces in their homes in Jammu region's Poonch district.

"We are constantly threatened for pursuing the case. But we have lost everything in this massacre and have nothing to lose now," said one survivor, Abdul Ahad Sheikh, whose two daughters, two sons and wife were killed.

"Today, we are protesting that despite it being 17 years no headway has been made in the case and perpetrators of this ghastly act are roaming free," the survivors accompanied by human rights activists said.

State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in 1998 had recommended identification of the forces personnel allegedly involved in the incident and compensation to the survivors of the killings.

"In 2011, we filed a petition before the High court for re-investigation and implementation of SHRC recommendation," the survivors said.

Later in November 2012, the High Court ordered a re-investigation of the case by the CBI when the state government informed the court that the case had been closed but it failed to produce the closure report before the court.

"Now three years have passed since then and still nothing has happened. It looks CBI was brought in to cover up the case", the survivors said.