JAMMU: Close on heels of ordering an Army’s Court of Inquiry (COI) and Poonch police registering a case of murder against unknown persons in respect of deaths of three civilian persons in custody of Army, the Army Chief Manoj Pande visited the ground zero on Monday.
On Monday afternoon, Army Chief exhorted the local Army commanders to conduct operations in the ‘most professional manner’ amid outrage over the killing of three civilians picked up by the force for interrogations following a militants’ attack in Poonch that left four soldiers dead last week.
Army Chief General Manoj Pande visited Jammu and Kashmir on Monday and exhorted commanders to conduct operations in the ‘most professional manner’, amid an outrage over the killing of three civilians picked up by the force for questioning following a suspected terrorists attack in Poonch last week that left four soldiers dead.
The Army Chief, asked the troops to remain resolute and steadfast against all challenges. In another development, the Army shifted a brigadier-level officer, the officials said.
The three civilians were picked up by the Army for questioning after the militants ambushed two Army vehicles on December 21 at Dhatyar Morh between Dera Ki Gali and Bafliaz in Poonch.
The three civilians were found dead with serious torture marks on December 22 under mysterious circumstances after their detention by the Army along with another dozen persons. At least seven persons are admitted to the hospitals with injuries sustained during the alleged interrogations and physical torture in custody of an Army Camp in Dera Ki Gali area.
“General Manoj Pande #COAS visited #Poonch sector and was given an update on the prevalent security situation. #COAS interacted with commanders on ground, exhorted them to conduct the operations in the most professional manner and remain resolute & steadfast against all challenges,” the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army posted on X.
Earlier, a Defence Public Relations spokesman in Jammu said the Army chief arrived at Jammu in the afternoon and immediately left for the Rajouri-Poonch sector to review the operational preparedness and the prevailing security situation.
The officials said General Pande visited Dera Ki Gali and reviewed the Counter-Insurgency (CI) operation going on in Surankote and nearby Rajouri district’s Thanamandi forest area for the last five days to neutralise the militants behind the attack on December 21.
The Army Chief later flew to the 25 Infantry Division headquarters in Rajouri and was briefed by the commanders on the ground about the overall security situation, the officials said.
Northern Command Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi and Jammu-based White Knight Corps’ General Officer Commanding Lt Gen Sandeep Jain accompanied the army chief.
Both of them along with senior civil and police officers are camping in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch to supervise the anti-terrorist operation and maintain law and order.
Unverified video clips
It is worth mentioning that unverified video clips showing their torture were shared widely on social media. Some of the torture survivors, who have been admitted to the hospital for treatment of their injuries claimed that they were part of those videos, which were being circulated on the social media groups.
In a post on ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter) on December 23, the ADGPI had said, “Search operations by the security forces are continuing in the area of operations after the incident of 21 Dec 23. Reports have been received regarding three civilian deaths in the area. The matter is under investigation. Indian Army stands committed to extending full support and cooperation in the conduct of investigations.”
Open FIR of murder case registered
The officials in Jammu said that the police have also registered a case under section 302 (Murder) of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified army personnel.
“…after terror incident at DKG on December 21, army troops carried out searches in Topa Peer in Bafliaz for the terrorists who escaped after the attack. During searches, Army troops detained a few local youth for questioning, reportedly three such youth namely Safeer Ahmad, Mohd Showkat and Shabir Ahmad succumbed to injuries.”
“As such, cognisable offence under section 302 IPC is made out. On this information instant case stands registered. As the instant case is of special nature, special report will be submitted separately as investigation is taken up,” an official said quoting the FIR.
Arrests of civilians in full public view
A relative of one of the deceased, said the three men were picked up by the troops accompanied by policemen Mohd Rafiq and Mohd Rashid along with their sources in the full public gaze.
“We want names of the concerned Army major, policemen and the army sources to be included in the FIR besides immediate shifting of the Rashtriya Rifles camp,” he said, adding ‘innocent persons were killed in cold blood and we want justice for them’.
Meanwhile, the mobile internet services remained suspended in both Poonch and Rajouri districts for the third day on Monday as a precautionary measure to check rumour-mongering and prevent miscreants from creating any law and order problem, the officials said.
The services were suspended early Saturday following the killing of the three civilians in Army’s custody.
The J&K administration on Saturday announced compensation and jobs to the families of the dead civilians and said the Medico-Legal Case (MLC) formalities were conducted and legal action in this matter has been initiated by the appropriate authority. The amount of compensation has not been specified so far.
Additional security personnel were sent to the Poonch district on Monday even as a search operation was going on in the forest areas of Dera Ki Gali, where two Army vehicles were ambushed by heavily armed militants last week.
Additional forces were also deployed in the Bafliaz area of Poonch district, officials informed.
According to ‘The Hindu’, the FIR that has been filed by the Surankote police station against “unknown” accused persons.
The FIR said that at about 5.25 p.m. on December 22, “based on information made available” army troops were carrying out searches in the general areas of Topi Peer, Sawani and Buffliaz to locate the terrorists who escaped after the attack and detained a few local youths “for questioning.”
It added that three of them — Safeer Hussain, Mohd Showkat and Shabir Ahmad, all residents of Topi Bafliaz, Tehsil Surankote — have succumbed to the injuries.
“As such a cognizable offence under section 302 of IPC is made out. On this information instant case stands registered. As the instant case is of special nature which is 3rd of its kind from the said village and 3rd of its kind during the current year, whereas 41st case of special nature of current year, Special report-A will be submitted separately and investigation taken up,” the FIR said, according to The Hindu report.
Meanwhile, the civilians from Thanamandi thrashed and brutally injured at the army camp are recuperating in the hospital.
A report in the Indian Express quoted one of the injured, Mohammed Ashraf, as confrming that he was one of the men in the video. 52 years old Ashraf told Indian Express that he and the other detainees were stripped, beaten with lathis and iron rods and smeared with chilli powder to their wounds until they lost consciousness.
Ashraf is among the several people picked up from Thanamandi area of Rajouri and detained at the camp at Dera Ki Gali on Friday where they were tortured
The report also quotes a 15-year-old boy who was among the injured. He is reported to have said that the security personnel accused him of providing food to the militants which he denied. The soldiers allegedly started beating him after that.
—–
(From twitter. Link: https://x.com/Talib_Hussain_/status/1739329727452860722?s=20)
Have you liked the news article?