Over six policemen on the Amarnath duty were injured as a group of Army jawans in plain clothes allegedly thrashed them “for being stopped at a nakka” on the Srinagar-Baltal route in Ganderbal.
According to the police, over 30 personnel of the Army’s 24 Rashtriya Rifles in civvies were travelling during the intervening night of July 21-22 in four different vehicles on the Baltal-Srinagar route.
“These vehicles escaped forcibly from a nakka point established by the police station Sonamarg at Poney Stand. These vehicles were returning from the Yatra. Due to the already issued cut-off timing and present circumstances, it was not feasible to allow yatris after the cut-off time,” said the police.
The police said the vehicles were again stopped by a police’s nakka party of the Gund Ganderbal police station. “Assistant Sub-Inspector Ghulam Rasool stopped the vehicles as per the directions. However, the personnel without showing any identification came down from the vehicles and started thrashing the on-duty officer and other officials, resulting injuries to the officer,” alleged the police.
The police alleged that more army personnel from Gund and Surbraw areas of 24 Rashtriya Rifles, headed by Captain Shukla , entered in the Gund police station and thrashed “all the police personnel present in there”. “Some records as well as some belongings of officials were also damaged,” said the police.
An FIR under Section of 147, 148,307 ,323, 332, 353,427, 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code has been registered in the incident.
The Army is yet to issue its version on the sequence of events. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (SP), Ganderbal, Fayaz Ahmad Lone has raised the issue with the army and was “assured of an inquiry”.