Shopian shooting: Judicial commission adjourns proceedings

The one-man judicial commission, probing the killing of four youths in a firing incident in Shopian district of Kashmir in September last year, today adjourned the proceedings till February 13 as the petitioners were not present.
"The petitioners were not present and the government has not yet issued the formal orders for engaging public prosecutor Shopian as the prosecutor for this case. I adjourned the case till February 13," Justice M L Koul, who is conducting the probe, told PTI.
He said the public prosecutor for Shopian had been instructed to discharge the duties of prosecutor before the Commission but has not received formal orders so far from the government.

Four persons were killed at Gagran in Shopian district, 55 kms from here, on September 7 on the day when renowned orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta performed at famed Shalimar gardens here.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered a judicial probe into the killings after the CRPF claim -- that all the deceased were militants -- was contested by local residents of Shopian.
While police admitted there was no record of involvement in militancy for the three deceased local youth, it maintained the fourth youth was a Pakistani militant.
The commission has been appointed to find out the circumstances leading to the killing of four youth, ascertain the identity of the deceased and if they had any involvement in militancy.

The commission has also been asked to fix responsibility for any act of misuse of authority by the CRPF personnel.