SRINAGAR, India, April 12 (Reuters) - Indian authorities in Kashmir charged five soldiers and five policemen on Thursday with killing a Muslim cleric in a staged gun battle and passing him off as a separatist militant, police said. Security forces in the troubled Himalayan region have been accused of shooting civilians in staged gun battles to earn rewards and promotions for killing militants. "The accused were charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy, abduction, murder and destruction of evidence," a police official said. In February, five bodies, including the cleric Molvi Shoukat Khatana, were exhumed in connection with investigations into charges of staged gun battles. Earlier this year, seven policemen were charged with killing one of the five men -- a local carpenter. The killings sparked violent protests across Kashmir, where officials say more than 42,000 people have been killed in a separatist revolt which broke out in 1989. Human rights activists put the toll at 60,000 dead and missing.
