Troops blamed for killing in kashmir

The complaints were filed with police by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), an autonomous body set up by the government in the mid-1990s to investigate claims of human rights abuses, senior police officer K. Rajendra Kumar said in a statement.

Kumar said some 350 complaints were investigated and reports sent back to the commission. Twenty cases were found to be fabricated while the commission was dealing with the remaining 330.

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"These cases are still under investigation. We are examining witnesses and victims," a commission official told AFP.

Though Kumar did not say what were the charges, the SHRC official said they included disappearances of arrested activists, molestation of women and unwarranted detentions and raids.

Indian troops battling a 15-year-old anti-Indian insurgency in the restive region are often accused of human rights violations by rights groups and separatists, charges they deny.

The unrest has so far left 40,000 people dead by official count. Separatists, wanting to secede Kashmir from India and join it with rival Pakistan or keep it independent put the toll between 80,000 and 100,000.

Kumar said complaints were thoroughly investigated and sent back to the SHRC for appropriate action. The services of detectives were sought to probe certain complicated cases, he said.

Police were also strengthening their mechanisms to redress public grievances, he added.