|
A former Indian Army officer wanted in the 1996 killing of a humanrights lawyer shot and killed his wife and two of their children intheir California home before apparently committing suicide,authorities said. A 17-year-old believed to be the man's son also was shot in theSaturday morning attack and was "barely alive," FresnoCounty Sheriff's Deputy Chris Curtice said. The ex-officer, Maj. Avtar Singh, had been arrested in the centralCalifornia city last year after his wife said he choked her, andthe Indian government sought his extradition days after that in the1996 death of Jalil Andrabi. But he remained free, for reasons that were not immediately clear.Andrabi's brother and lawyer blamed New Delhi, saying Maj. Singh'sfamily would still be alive if the government had tried harder tobring him to justice. ‘Failure of justice' "These lives could have been saved if a trial of Maj. AvtarSingh was conducted on time," said Andrabi's brother, Arshad."We have lost that chance now. He was a known murderer and weare appalled that he was even shielded in the United States. It's afailure of justice at all levels." Maj. Singh, who owned a trucking company in Selma, called policearound 6.15 a.m. on Saturday and told them that he had just killedfour people, Mr. Curtice said. He added that a sheriff's SWAT(Special Weapons And Tactics) team was called in to assist becauseof Maj. Singh's military background and the charges against him. When the SWAT team entered the home they found the bodies of Maj.Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, aged 3 and15, Mr. Curtice said. All appeared to have died from gunshotwounds. The 17-year-old suffered severe head trauma and underwent surgeryat a hospital where he remained in intensive care, Mr. Curticesaid. Maj. Singh, 47, was arrested by Selma police in February 2011 whenhis wife reported that he had choked her, Selma Police Chief MyronDyck said shortly after that arrest. Police then discovered that hewas being sought in India, but Mr. Dyck said at the time that hecould not keep Maj. Singh in custody on the murder charge without awarrant from international authorities. Several days later, India requested that the United States arrestand extradite him. It wasn't clear why Maj. Singh had remained freesince the request. A request for comment from the Consulate-Generalof India in San Francisco was not immediately returned. Mr. Dyck didn't immediately return a call seeking comment about the2011 arrest, and Selma police referred questions about the apparentmurder-suicide to Fresno County Sheriff's officials. Jalil Andrabi was killed at the height of protests in Kashmir.Andrabi disappeared in March 1996 in Srinagar. His body wasrecovered 19 days later in a river. He had been shot in the head,and his eyes were gouged out. A police investigation blamed Maj. Singh and his men for thatkilling and also accused Maj. Singh of involvement in the killingsof six other Kashmiri men. He had been charged in Kashmir only with Andrabi's killing. Kashmirpolice had sought permission from the Centre for Maj. Singh'sprosecution in the six other killings. Maj. Singh fled India after he was accused of killing Andrabi.Hafizullah Mir, the human rights lawyer, said he was tracked toCalifornia in 2009 with the help of the Canadian Centre forInternational Justice, a human rights advocacy group, but New Delhidid not pursue extradition until after his 2011 arrest. I am an expert from suspendedworkingplatform.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Suspended Access Platform , Suspended Working Platform Manufacturer, Suspended Platform Cradle,and more.
Related Articles -
China Suspended Access Platform, Suspended Working Platform Manufacturer,
| 
