28 j CIVIL LIBERTIES 4.13 The Commission also continued to pursue matters of which it had taken cognisance earlier. Notable among these were the aftermath of the killing of 35 Sikhs in Chittisinghpora on 20/21 March 2000 and the killing of 5 persons in Patribal by the security forces on 25 March 2000, who were stated to be responsible for the killings in Chittisinghpora. In respect of these matters, the Commission had directed the State Government to furnish it with a copy of the report of the Commission of Inquiry headed by Shri Justice S.R. Pandian, as well as to keep it informedin respect of the case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Anantnag concerning the killing of the five persons in Patribal. 4.14 On 14 July 2001, the State Government informed the Commission that it had decided to accept the report and recommendations of the Pandian Commission of Inquiry in totality. It further informed the Commission that personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir police had been formally charge-sheeted and a full-fledged departmental inquiry had been instituted against them; that an FIR had been registered and a special team of investigators had been appointed to complete the investigation; and that, in so far as personnel of Central Security Forces were concerned, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India had been requested to take appropriate action against them. It was further stated that ex-gratia relief of Rs.1.00 lakh had been paid to the next-of-kin of those who had been killed. The Commission, accordingly, in its proceedings of 25 July 2001, closed its consideration of this matter. 4.15 The Commission was, however, deeply disturbed to read press reports to the effect that those reportedly killed in encounters in Patribal were identified as villagers who had, according to the people of the area, been killed in 'fake encounters' and wrongly blamed for the Chittisinghpora killings. On further enquiries by the Commission, the Government indicated that samples had been taken for DNA testing in respect of those who had been killed in Patribal. It remained a matter of the gravest concern to the Commission, as expressed in its annual report for the year 2000-2001, that despite the passage of many months, the results of the DNA testing had not been made public. In its preceding report, therefore, the Commission had observed that the manner in which the Patribal incident had been handled: '...has done great harm to the cause of human rights in the State and to the reputation of the armed forces and the Governmental authorities, both at the Centre and in the State.' NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION