NEW DELHI, July 25:
The BSF report into the firing incident at Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir, in which four people were killed, has said its personnel, along with State police, had to fire as the mob was running down the camp of the para-military force.
Submitting its initial report on the incident to the Union Home Ministry, the BSF said its troops were “forced” and “compelled” to fire in accordance of the “standard operating procedures” laid down for the safety of personnel and the “weapons”, official sources said.
It said the troops had fired in self-defence to save its men and weapons. The BSF has already ordered a Staff Court of Inquiry into the incident but has not named any individual, the sources said.
The report has been prepared by Special Director General of BSF Dilip Trivedi who had visited the spot after the July 18 incident.
The report contains annexures explaining the versions of both paramilitary and State police personnel and has also appended photographs of the spot. The BSF is guarding the railway line being laid in this area.
The report has stated that the firing was done both by the BSF and the State police. The latest inquiry has also found that the earlier version sent by its Jammu frontier was correct.
The BSF denied charges of sacrilege as claimed by the locals and said 25-year-old Mohammed Latif had made these baseless allegations against the personnel as he was stopped and questioned about his presence in the area.
It claimed the man ran into a religious place and made an announcement on loudspeakers claiming that BSF personnel had committed sacrilege prompting a crowd of around 400-500 persons outside the BSF post Dharam.
Four people were killed and 44 injured in the violent incident that led the force as well as police to fire at the mob.
The State Government has also launched a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the local police have detained the station incharge Sub Inspector Afzal Wani till their investigations in the case were over. (PTI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel