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A local court in Indian-controlled Kashmir has sentenced for life an Indian army informer for killing a Special Police Officer (SPO) about ten years ago, official said Sunday.
"After hearing the arguments from both sides, the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kupwara yesterday sentenced Ghulam Nabi Moughal for life in connection with the killing of SPO," said a court official. "Moughal was working with army as their informer."
The SPO Abdul Rashid Moughal was killed in September 2004 and his body was found in the forest of Kupwara.
The prosecution said during police interrogation Ghulam Nabi Moughal had confessed that he shot the SPO dead and later branded him as militant for promotion.
Other than regular police constables, SPOs are engaged by Indian police nominal monthly salary of 50 U.S. dollars to assist them and Indian army during the operations against militants in region.
In the more than two decades of insurgency of the region, there have been instances when officers from police and Indian army were found to be involved in staging fake gunfights and killing innocents and later branding them as militants for claiming rewards and promotions.
Indian-controlled Kashmir is considered as the highest militarized region. Officially India does not reveal the actual number of its troops deployed in the troubled region. However, rights activists say there are over 700,000 Indian troops and paramilitary troops in the region fighting an anti-India insurgency.
A guerrilla war is also going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the restive region since 1989. The gunfight between militants and Indian troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir takes place intermittently.
