M A I N   N E W S

Ex-Indian Army officer kills family, self in US 

Los Angeles, June 10
A former Indian Army officer, Major Avtar Singh, who was wanted in India for the murder of a prominent Kashmiri lawyer, has killed himself along with his wife and two children in his California home.

Singh (47) had fled to the United States after he was accused of killing Jaleel Andrabi, a Kashmiri lawyer and activist associated with the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), whose body was found floating in the Jhelum River in March 1996.

Andrabi, 42, was allegedly detained by a unit of Rashtriya Rifles led by Major Singh and his body was found a day later.

Authorities in Selma, California, believe Singh shot his family and then took his own life. Singh was found dead in the living room with an apparent gunshot wound to his head, officials said.

Singh called Selma police around 6:15 am yesterday and told them that he had killed members of his family and was going to kill himself, frenscobee.com quoted the Fresno County Sheriff's Office as saying.

A woman, believed to be Singh's wife, and a three-year-old boy were found in the home's master bedroom dead of gunshot wounds to the head, officials said.

The body of a 15-year-old boy was discovered in another bedroom, also with a gunshot wound to the head.

Selma police called the Fresno County Sheriff's Office to assist because they were aware that Singh had military experience in India, the report said.

Outside Singh's home, officers and deputies tried to contact him verbally and by telephone, but he did not respond. — PTI