NEW DELHI, June 6 A day before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's widely watched visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian army on Sunday relieved a colonel of his command and suspended a major for their alleged involvement in the murder of three Kashmiri youths in April, Press Trust of India said.

Dr Singh will be on a two-day visit to Kashmir from Monday when he is expected to renew an offer for talks with rebel groups and review the progress in what is known as the roundtable initiative for peace and development in the disputed state.

The prime minister is scheduled to address a convocation at an agricultural university.

Reports said tight security arrangements are in place with police pickets erected to combat threats from terror groups. A 'hartal' call given by pro-Pakistan leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been supported by Aasiya Andrabi of the hardline Dukhtaran-i-Millat group. Dr Singh was in Sringar last October.

PTI said Commanding Officer of 4 Rajput Regiment Colonel D.K. Pathania has been relieved of his command while Major Upinder of the 4 Rajput Regiment, who was named as the main accused by the J&K Police in the April 30 Machil encounter case, has also been removed from active duty.

“The colonel has been removed from the command. The second officer has been suspended as of now and the inquiry has been ordered,” Lt-Gen B.S. Jaiswal, chief of Army's Northern Command, said on Sunday.

“Commanding Officer Colonel D.K. Pathania has been asked not to leave the valley till inquiry is completed in the alleged fake encounter,” army sources said. He was about to leave the valley and join his regiment which has been relocated to Meerut.

“Major Upinder has been named main accused in the fake encounter and he too has been removed from active duty,” PTI quoted the sources as saying.

The army had ordered an inquiry into the killing after the police filed a report accusing the major of entering into a criminal conspiracy with some local people to eliminate the three youths by labelling them as terrorists. The issue was raised with the prime minister by a senior correspondent during a press conference in Delhi last month.

Earlier, Colonel Gloria of 33 Rashtriya Rifles was removed for allegedly killing three boys who were playing cricket in a playground in Dudipora-Handwara in February 2006, three months after he had taken over the reins of the counter-insurgency unit.

Meanwhile, PTI said police had recorded the statements of the parents of the three slain youths after taking them to Kupwara.

Earlier, the chief judicial magistrate Sopore had recorded the statements of close relatives of the three youths.