A tailor in Beerwah town of Budgam district was killed after an Army bullet hit him on the head. Conflicting versions have emerged from eyewitnesses, police and the Army on why the shot was fired. Tanveer Ahmad Wani, 24, died on the spot. Another youth, Mohammad Ibrahim Wani, was hit by a bullet in the shoulder and is being treated at SKIMS Hospital in Srinagar.
Locals alleged that Tanveer was killed in “cold blood” by the jawans of 53 Rashtriya Rifles who mistook the bang of a juice pouch to be a blast and started firing in the direction of civilians. Eyewitness said there was no stone pelting at the time the soldiers opened fire. “Some children were playing on the road. One among them was playing with a juice wrapper and suddenly there was a bang. An Army patrol party, which was walking, probably got alarmed and they started beating up the children. Those who came to rescue the boys were also beaten up. When a few more youths started marching towards the patrol party, they opened indiscriminate fire, killing Tanveer and injuring another youth,” said Idress Ahmad, Tanveer’s neighbour.
The versions given out by the army and the police also vary vastly from each other and the eyewitness account.
A police spokesperson said: “A foot patrol of the army was returning to its camp and near Beerwah, some miscreants threw stones at them. Someone among the miscreants also hurled a fire cracker. Because of a bang, the soldiers thought a grenade was hurled at them and they retaliated. Tanveer succumbed to injuries, while Ibrahim is stable.”
The army, on the other hand, said some of the stone throwers tried to snatch the rifles of the jawans. Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said: “An army patrol was subjected to heavy stone attack by a mob in Kondur village, near Beerwah town. In no time, the number swelled and the intensity of stone throwing increased. Some of the people tried to close in on the patrol and snatch weapons from the soldiers. Two persons were reportedly injured when troops opened fire.”
