The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday charged nine persons, including four army men, in the infamous fake encounters case in a court in Srinagar for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a pavement vendor.

"We have charged nine persons for the abduction, wrongful confinement and murder of Ghulam Nabi Wani, a pavement vendor who disappeared from the Residency Road area of Srinagar in March 2006," a senior police officer said.

This is the third chargesheet in the infamous fake encounters racket, which came to light earlier this year.

Ghulam Nabi Wani, a resident of south Kashmir was allegedly kidnapped from Residency Road in summer capital Srinagar on March 2, 2006. He was later allegedly framed as a foreign terrorist and killed in a stage-managed encounter by the members of the special operations group Ganderbal and Rashtriya Rifles troops on March 14, 2006 at Dudhwan (Sumbal).

DNA samples from Wani's exhumed body this February matched with those taken from his relatives, proving Wani's identity beyond any doubt.

Chief judicial magistrate, Sopore, deferred the committal proceedings till the May 5 so that the army decided whether or not they would like their personnel to be tried in the civil court.

The CJM also ordered that the accused RR personnel be issued summons through the investigating officers.

"The challan has been presented against former Ganderbal police chief H R Parihar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Bahadur Ram, Assistant Sub-Inspector Farooq Gudoo, Head Constable Farooq Paddar, Constable Bansi Lal, Colonel Vikram Singh, Major Navin Yadav and two soldiers of 13 Rashtriya Rifles."