Army has done justice in Machil fake encounter case: Manohar Parrikar

PANAJI: The Army has done justice by handing down life imprisonment to five of its personnel, including two officers, in the Machil fake encounter case in Jammu & Kashmir, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said today.

"In the encounter case, the Army has taken action. The Army has done justice. They always take action when something (wrong) happens," he told reporters during a visit to Goa Shipyard Ltd, about 40km from here.

Five Army men, including two officers, were sentenced to life for gunning down three youths and labelling them as militants in 2010. They were held guilty by the Summary General Court Martial, which sentenced them to life in prison.

Responding to a question, Parrikar rejected suggestion that the verdict is linked to the upcoming Assembly elections in the militancy-affected State.

"The court martial had nothing to do with the elections. It was end of a due process," the Minister said.

Those sentenced were Colonel Dinesh Pathania, Captain Upendra Singh, Havaldar Devinder, Lance Naik Lakhmi and Lance Naik Arun Kumar.

The incident came to light on April 30, 2010 when bodies of three youths were shown by Army as militants who were trying to sneak into the Valley from higher reaches of Machil in North Kashmir with arms and ammunition.