Army to try officers accused in Pathribal encounter in GCM

The Army moved an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar, the designated CBI court, seeking transfer of the Pathribal fake encounter case to the General Court Martial, a court official said today.

He said the CJM has directed transferring the records including the charge-sheet and other material evidence to the General Court Martial through the Army's authorised officer.

The Army's decision came after the Supreme Court on May one gave eight weeks' time to it to decide whether the accused officers will be tried in the GCM or face a trial in the civilian court.

Brigadier Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brajendra Pratap Singh, Major Sourabh Sharma, Major Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees Khan were charge-sheeted by the CBI in 2006 for killing five civilians and later dubbing them as foreign militants.

As per the CBI investigation, the five civilians were killed and branded as militants days after 35 Sikhs were massacred in the nearby Chattisingpora village. MORE