Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 17: Army today refuted the allegations of thrashing civilians in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district during a search operation yesterday.
A defence spokesman said the news reports stating that it has beaten up locals causing serious injuries to five residents is completely devoid of truth.
“A joint search operation was launched by army and the Special Operation Group (SOG) based on information about presence of terrorists in village Jaban village at Chuntimulla in the district. The search started at 0700hours and not at 0330 hours as mentioned in the reports. A number of houses where terrorists were suspected to be hiding were searched in the presence of village Sarpanch. Three suspects, who were believed to have provided logistic assistance to the terrorists, were identified. At no stage, they were tortured by the army as reported in the media,” the defence spokesman said.
He said the three suspects were being taken to Police Station Sumlar for questioning when people blocked the road and tried to break the barrier of the army camp at Chuntimulla, which is enroute to Sumlar.
“The Army and police personnel along with the Numberdar of the village tried to pacify the people, reassuring them that the suspects would be released after questioning. However, the crowd did not listen, started pelting stones and tried to force their way into the army camp. One of the police officers was kicked in the groin by one of the relatives of the three suspects. To control the unruly and violent crowd the police had to resort to mild lathi charge. One of the ladies who was part of the protesting crowd was injured due to the stones being pelted by the people from the rear. Two more people were injured in the melee. At no stage was she or any other person including the three suspects beaten up by the Army,” he claimed.
“The allegations levied against the Army are purely aimed to malign the positive image of Indian Army prevalent amongst the locals and with the malafide intent to disrupt the ongoing counter terrorist operations in the area,” the defence spokesman added.
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