FIRDOUS TAK

Mangu Chak (Jammu), Sept 8: The mailman delivered the first clues in the disappearance of Bushan Lal in 2006 and after four years in 2010 the reinvestigation of mysterious death of Captain Sumit Kohli has generated another ray of hope for the family, who’s son was among the four porters allegedly killed by the army in a fake encounter in Lolab area of Kupwara district.

 The mail sent by the ‘anonymous person’ claimed that armymen had killed Lal, 25, along with three other porters hired to carry equipment and supplies for army troops fighting militants in North Kashmir.

 The letter charged that two army officers in the Rashtriya Rifles, whose members have been investigated for numerous abuses, ordered the men to be shot to boost the guerrilla body count -- and their prospects for promotion and rewards.

 The Lal family lives in this village 8 miles from Jammu. Their four-room brick house is home to 13 people, who scratch out a living from a quarter-acre field sown with wheat and hay for a few cows and a water buffalo. Everyone in the village and its adjoining areas have been witness to the ordeal this family has undergone and their struggle to get justice.

 As he told the story of his son's disappearance, Madan Lal, 65, sat in the yard on the edge of a wood-frame cot, next to a heap of cattle dung about 5 feet high.

 Sitting in his mud house, father of Bhushan Lal, holds picture of his son. He has seen the news story regarding reinvestigation of the Captain Kohli’s death on an English news channel. Though unable to understand the language, the content of the story and the pictures of Captain Kohli was enough for him and his family to realize that something was being done, finally.

 Bhushan Lal, retired Lance Naik from the army, has been running from pillar to post to get justice not only for his son but even for the two young siblings and a window, the deceased has left behind.

 A broken man, having no faith either on army investigation or the legal system of the country, Lal now feels that the reinvestigation of Kohl’s death may also unfold the reality behind the killing of the four porters, the charge which the Indian army has been denying.

 He is also sure that Kohli was killed just because he was to open the lid of the fake encounter. “He was the man, suspected by his superiors, to have written letters to the family of the slain porters”.

 “When we visited Kashmir for identification of our sons bodies, we met an army officer who told us that the man who has written letter to you will also ensure that justice is finally done”, Bhushan Lal told Greater Kashmir.

 “We did not know his name but we realized his face when in 2006 his picture appeared in a newspaper with news story of his suicide,” he said adding, “We have been since saying that he was killed only because he knew the truth”.

 “We have filed a case in the state High Court after we failed to get justice from the Court of Inquiry initiated by the army”, he said adding, “Now when government has started investigation of the officer’s death, we might get justice as well”.

 He claimed that immediately after the reports of the fake encounter surfaced, some unknown persons had approached the local Panchayat with Rs 15 lakh for the family. “We refused to accept and the matter has been brought to the notice of divisional commissioner and DC Jammu”.

 Four labourers Ram Lal, Satpal, Bushan Lal and Ashok Kumar were allegedly killed by the army in a fake encounter in April 2004. Captain Sumit Kholi, who was the duty officer at the time of the encounter, was found dead in mysterious circumstances.

 It is pertinent to mention here that Defence Ministry on Tuesday ordered a reinvestigation into the death of the officer.

 Captain Kohli's mother Veena Kohli had met Defence Minister AK Antony on August 28 and demanded that her son's post-mortem report be re-looked at.

 Captain Kohli was found dead in his quarters at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir on April 30, 2006. While the Army's Court of Inquiry ruled that Kohli's death was a case of suicide, the captain's family believes that he was murdered by senior officers because he was going to blow the lid on fake encounters in Kashmir Valley in which four porters were killed in Lolab in April 2004. 

Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST