Fugitive Indian army officer kills his family in US

A former Indian Army officer wanted for a 1996 killing in the disputed Kashmir region killed his wife and two of their children in their California home before apparently killing himself.

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SELMA, CALIFORNIA // A former Indian Army officer wanted for a 1996 killing in the disputed Kashmir region killed his wife and two of their children in their California home before apparently killing himself.

Avtar Singh called police at 6.15am yesterday and told them he had killed four people, said the sheriff's deputy Chris Curtice.

Police asked for assistance from the Fresno County sheriff's office because Singh was known to have a military background and was wanted by authorities in India for allegedly killing a human-rights lawyer in 1996 in the disputed Kashmir region.

Singh fled to the United States after he was accused of killing Jaleel Andrabi in India-controlled Kashmir's main city, Srinagar.

Andrabi disappeared in March 1996 at the height of an anti-India uprising, and his body was found 19 days later in a river. He had been shot in the head.

Singh, 47, was arrested in February last year for allegedly abusing his wife. After his arrest, police discovered that he was being sought in India. Several days later, India requested that the US extradite him.

It was not clear why Singh had remained free since the request.