Srinagar: The State Human Rights Commission has ordered DNA sampling of bodies lying in “2080” unidentified graves in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu.
Chairperson of the Commission Justice Bilal Nazki ordered the sampling be done within six months.
The commission passed the directions on a petition titled Advocate Parvaiz Imroz and patron APDP regarding enforced disappearance and unmarked graves in the twin district of Jammu region.
Few years ago, the SHRC created ripples by revealing that 2,156 unidentified bodies were lying in “mass graves” in three districts of north Kashmir and called for DNA sampling of bodies to compare them with the next of kin of people who have disappeared. After the petition by Parvaiz Imroz and others, the SHRC had sought response from the Government following which the Commissioner Secretary Home Department filed a report.
“After reading this report, I do not think this Commission needs to hold any further enquiry into the matter as the Home Department has accepted that there are 1486 graves in Poonch which are unidentified and unmarked. In Rajouri it is admitted there are 594 graves which are unmarked and unidentified, so in all in these two districts there are 2080 graves which are unmarked. There are other 1351 graves which are marked and identified,” the commission said, adding, “Since the Government has accepted that there are 2080 unidentified graves in Poonch and Rajouri, therefore, the Commission has no hesitation to issue same directions which were already issued in the earlier suo-moto petition,”the SHRC said and ordered that the directions be complied within six months.
The special investigation team (SIT) of the SHRC headed by a Senior Superintendent of Police took lid off shocking facts, revealing that 2,730 unidentified bodies had been buried in 38 sites in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, Bandipore and Kupwara districts.
Subsequently the SHRC had recommended the identification of all those people buried in the unmarked graves and had suggested that all means like DNA profiling be used to identify the bodies buried in 38 places in Kashmir.
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