KL Report
SRINAGAR
At around 8:45 am on Monday, there was an explosion in Kunan village, of Kupwara district. The explosion was carried out by personnel of the Rashtriya Rifles and 160 Territorial Army, of the Hiri camp, who stated to the villagers that it was a very old mine that had to be exploded. Further, they declared that arms and ammunition were recovered from near the blast site.
However, Sarpanch of Kunan, Abdul Samad Dar, questioned the army personnel and he was told that the army had received information about the presence of arms and ammunition in the Kunan village, and that there would be searches conducted in the village in the coming days.
Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (CCS), a human rights group, active in the state, said in a statement that on April 5, army personnel from Hiri camp were at the same location shooting a video, which appeared like a reconnaissance. “For three days, prior to April 5, there was unusual movement of the same army personnel at this location,” the CCS statement said.
The statement further added that the explosion and the threat of further searches is clearly an act of intimidation against the villagers of Kunan and Poshpora, and all those associated with the struggle against impunity of the Indian army. “The Village Committee of Kunan Poshpora, that is fighting the mass rape and torture case of February 1991, has approached the Trehgam Police Station for the filing of a FIR,” the statement said.
