Srinagar (August 18, 2012): The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has demanded a fresh and impartial probe into the Chattisinghpora incident.Addressing a conference in Srinagar, the committee members termed the silence of the puppet administration over the Chattisinghpora massacre as criminal.
The APSCC Chairman, Jagmohan Singh Raina, said, “The investigating agencies have established the Pathribal encounter as fake.” He said that since Chattisinghpora and Pathribal cases were inter-connected, the puppet regime should order a fresh and impartial probe into the massacre.
It is to mention here that 35 Sikhs including children were killed in Chattisinghpora village in Islamabad district by unidentified gunmen, dressed in army fatigues, on the evening of March 20, 2000. The incident took place on the eve of the then US President, Bill Clinton’s visit to India. Five days after the massacre, Indian Army killed seven men in Pathribal village of Islamabad, claiming the deceased were the foreign militants responsible for the massacre.
However, the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was investigating the case, concluded that the Pathribal encounter was fake and the seven persons killed were civilians. Later it submitted its report to the Supreme Court. The apex court had recently termed the encounter as fake and asked the army to initiate trial of the involved troops.
The conference was also addressed among others by President Sikh Student Federation, Karnail Singh, Akali Dal leader, Joginder Singh Shaan, Harcharan Singh Khalsa and Dilmag Singh.