Indian soldier accused of killing Kashmir civilians for reward

OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: An army officer shot dead three unarmed civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir to claim a cash reward for killing rebels, police investigators say.

Captain Bhoopendra Singh -- who was charged with murder and conspiracy in late December over the July killing of the three labourers -- staged a gun battle hoping to be rewarded with two million rupees (US$27,200), according to part of a police charge sheet seen by AFP Monday.

Singh and two civilian associates claimed the trio were armed, but a police investigation alleged he planted weapons on the men to make them look like militants.

Government forces are paid up to US$27,000 by authorities for killing militants, amid an insurgency against the Indian government that has left tens of thousands dead since 1989.

The rewards are offered by the government, rather than military.

Rights activists warn the financial incentives have led to extra-judicial killings of innocent people.

"Legal impunity... combined with the policy of cash rewards is likely to continue to lead to staged gun battles in which innocent civilians are killed," a leading human rights lawyer, Parvez Imroz, told AFP.

Occupied Kashmir has been under emergency military law since 1990 that gives soldiers wide powers to shoot suspected rebels.

The law bars soldiers accused of crimes from being tried in civilian courts unless specifically permitted by the government.