NEW DELHI: An Indian military court has sentenced seven soldiers to life in prison for killing three Kashmiri youths in a rare ruling against the army, India-held Kashmir’s top official said on Thursday.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the soldiers shot dead the youths in 2010 after staging a gun battle and claiming they were trying to sneak across the disputed border from Pakistan.

“This is a watershed moment. No one in Kashmir ever believed that justice would be done in such cases. Faith in institutions disappeared,” Mr Abdullah said in a Tweet.

Families of the victims claimed the army lured the three close to the de-facto border, on the promise of jobs and money, before staging the “fake encounter”.

The killings in Machil sector sparked widespread protests in Kashmir at the time, leading to 120 deaths in battles between demonstrators and security forces, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The army declined to confirm when the military court’s ruling was handed down. According to local media, court martial proceedings began in January this year against the seven and ended in September.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2014