The 65-year-old father of a Rajouri resident who was killed with his two cousins by the army in an allegedly staged gunfight in Shopian said on Monday that Muslims can get "no justice from the courts" in the country.

Mohammad Yousuf Chouhan, the distraught father of Abrar Ahmad, was reacting to reports that the principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal had suspended the life sentence handed to Captain Bhoopendra Singh, questioning the findings of the court-martial.

The tribunal had granted the officer bail on November 9. The court-martial had in January found the officer guilty of six charges, including murder, and subsequently sentenced him to life.

“This is complete injustice. If he (Singh) accepted that he killed the men and is now released after three months, what can I say?” Yousuf told The Telegraph over the phone.

“You can’t understand what is happening (inside me). I can get no justice from the courts. The law (courts) should be shut down.”

Yousuf said he had learnt about the development from this correspondent.

“If they were from some other religion, they would certainly have got justice. They were Muslims kids…. Muslims have no value here.”

Yousuf said he had now lost interest in life after learning about the tribunal’s verdict.

He had recently told this newspaper that he was happy with the court-martial proceedings.

“But today I believe he was not court-martialled. Maybe it was all faked,” he said on Monday.

“Ten lakh rupees is the price of an innocent life here,” he added, referring to the ex gratia he had received from the government.

Reports from Delhi said that Justice Rajendra Menon, who heads the tribunal, said the court-martial proceedings had taken on record certain evidence that was “inadmissible” and “not convincing” enough to hold Singh guilty at the present stage.

“Prima facie, based on the material available on record, we are convinced that the applicant being acquitted after hearing of this appeal cannot be ruled out,” the tribunal said.

In his appeal, Singh had claimed he had “obediently complied with the orders of his commanding officer” and said his senior was part of the operation.

Abrar and his cousins Imtiyaz Ahmed, 22, and Mohammed Ibrar, 17, were killed in Amshipora, Shopian, in 2020. Their families claimed they were innocent, kicking up a political storm here.

Abrar worked in Kuwait but was prevented by the pandemic from returning to that country. The three cousins were working in Kashmir as labourers.