KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
During a night cordon and search operation, Indian Army personnel allegedly thrashed men and women blue and black, forcing people to took to roads and stage anti-army and anti-India protest in South Kashmir’s Pulwama.
Locals told CNS that army personnel from 44 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off Chek Badrinath village during Sunday night. According to locals, army men informed them that a militant has escaped from their custody and the same is present in the village.
“A group of armed army men barged into our house and forced all the family members to come out in the courtyard. When they get nothing from the house, they abruptly started beating us without any provocation,” said a resident Nisar Ahmed Mir.
Mir said that the group of army men did not even spare women folk. “They kicked and hit my brothers Showkat Ahmed Mir and Tanvir Ahmed Mir with gun butts. Even my elderly father Abdul Rehman was pushed, slapped and beaten mercilessly. Both my brothers are third year students of Degree College Pulwama and one of them lost two teeth in ruthless thrashing,” Mir said.
“As they went berserk, the women folk raised hue and cry prompting large number of people to move towards our house. The people staged massive protest against these army personnel raising pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Sensing trouble, these army personnel lifted siege and fled from the village in armored vehicles,” said another family member.
Locals of Chek Badrinath said that they approached Station House Officer Rajpora and requested him to register an FIR against the guilty army personnel, which he refused for the reasons better known to him.
SHO Rajpora Sajad Ahmed said that it is better for these people to contact SP Pulwama.
Refuting the allegations, an Army spokesperson said that nothing like that happened in the village. “There was cordon but local police personnel were accompanying our jawans. Local police personnel are witness to the search operation and nobody was touched or harassed during the operation,” he said and added that Army is for the protection of the common people and it is their venture to win the hearts of the people.
