Indian Army
[Representational Image]Reuters File

Seven armymen, including two officers, have been convicted for killing civilians and hatching conspiracy against three youths in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case in Jammu & Kashmir.

The General Court Martial awarded lifetime imprisonment to the seven Army personnel, including colonel DK Pathania, Captain Upendra Singh, Subedar Satbir Singh, Havildar Bir Singh, Sepoy Chadraban, Sepoy Nagendra Singh and Sepoy Narinder Singh. The Court has also suspended their service benefits. 

The soldiers were convicted for alluring three youths –Shezad Ahmad, Riyaz Ahmad and Mohammad Shafi– of North Kashmir with the promise of job and money and bringing them to Kupwara.

In a conspiracy, planned much in advance, the seven armymen killed them in a fake encounter near the Line of Control and tagged them as Pakistani terrorists trying to infiltrate into the country, according to an IBNLive report.

Along with the seven Army personnel, two civilians and one territorial Army member have also been declared guilty of the fake encounter during the proceedings that had started in January this year.