Ex-Indian army officer kills family, self in US

Washington, June 10 (ANI): A former Indian Army officer, who was wanted for the killing of a lawyer in the disputed Kashmir region, has killed his wife and two children before killing himself, US authorities have said.

Avtar Singh called the California police at around 6.15 a.m. and told them that he had killed four people, Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sheriff's Deputy Chris Curtice as saying.

Police asked for assistance from the Fresno County Sheriff's Office because Singh was known to have a military background and was wanted by Indian authorities for allegedly killing a human rights lawyer in 1996 in the Kashmir region, Curtice said.

When a sheriff's SWAT team entered the home they found the bodies of Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, aged 3 and 15, Curtice said.

Singh fled to the United States after he was accused of killing lawyer Jaleel Andrabi in Srinagar.

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

Police arrested Singh, 47, in February 2011 when his wife reported that he had choked her, Police Chief Myron Dyck said shortly after that arrest.

Several days later, India requested that the United States arrest and extradite Singh. (ANI)