'Encounter in which Bikram Singh was injured not fake'

The encounter, in which Army Chief in the waiting Lt General Bikram Singh got injured in 2001, was not fake and allegations levelled in this regard are just an afterthought, Defence Ministry has told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

"... the allegations of fake encounter after 10 years of the incident are a mere afterthought, misleading, mischievous and motivated. The petitioners are levelling false allegations without any basis," the Ministry said.

The ministry has filed objections to the petition filed by one Zaituna who had alleged that her son Abdullah Bhat, a resident of Macchil in Kupwara district, was killed in a fake encounter on March 1, 2001 and later branded as a Pakistani militant 'Mateen Chacha'.

According to the objections, Lt Gen Singh, who was then a brigadier commanding the 1 Sector Rashtriya Rifles in south Kashmir, was returning to Anantnag after visiting various units.

When the army convoy stopped at Janglat Mandi in Anantnag, a militant disguised as a beggar opened indiscriminate firing on the armymen.

While Colonel J P Janu and Rifleman Ganesh Kumar were killed, Gen Singh and another officer were injured in the attack. The assailant and two civilians were also killed in the incident.