Srinagar, Nov. 27: An army inquiry into the killing of two youths in Chattergam village has indicted a junior commissioned officer and eight soldiers for murder, sources said.

The development, which reflects a rare resolve by the armed forces to act against their own men involved in human rights violations in Kashmir, comes days after an army court martial handed life sentences to a colonel, a major and five jawans in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case in which three civilians were killed and branded militants.

In the Chattergam case, two youths — 14-year-old Faisal and his friend Mehraj, 21 — were killed and their friends Shaker and Zakir injured when the army opened fire on their vehicle on November 3, triggering outrage in the Valley. The car’s fifth occupant managed to escape.

Colonel S.D. Goswami, the defence spokesperson at the Northern Command, said: “The recording of the court of inquiry has been completed in a speedy manner and is being processed at the headquarters, Northern Command.”

Defence spokesperson Lt Colonel N.N. Joshi said further legal action was in progress, without elaborating.

Army sources, however, said the JCO and eight soldiers of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles had been indicted for the killings. “The court of inquiry has recommended court martial proceedings against the accused after finding that they were involved in a gross violation of the rules of engagement,” an official said.

Faisal’s father Mohammad Yusuf thanked the army for the swift probe but expressed regret that nobody from the army or the civil administration had visited their home. “We want the army to publicly announce the punishment,” he said.

Although the army had not claimed that the vehicle’s occupants were militants, its earlier statement had said the youths tried to barge through a checkpoint (on the Nowgam-Chattergam road) after refusing to stop at two earlier ones despite being asked to.

The army claimed it had set up three checkpoints in the area after specific intelligence inputs about the movement of militants in a white Maruti 800 and that the youths were travelling in a car of the same description.

The outrage over the killings had prompted the army to later acknowledge that its men had committed a mistake. It announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the slain youths and Rs 5 lakh for the two who were injured.

The army also initiated action against the erring soldiers by replacing the 53 Rashtriya Rifles with 35 Rashtriya Rifles.

The army has on many occasions in the past been accused of killing innocent civilians in the state but such a speedy inquiry has been rare.

The troops enjoy immunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.