Two youngsters were killed and nine others injured after Army opened fire on protesters in Ganowpora village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday.
While the authorities announced magisterial probe into the killings, the Army said that they had to open fire in self-defence to “prevent the lynching of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) by a mob”. The separatists have called for a Valley wide shutdown against the killings on Sunday.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and expressed anguish over the killings.
Police said that an Army convoy belonging to 19 Garhwal regiment was on way to 12 sector headquarters located at Balpora to nearby Maspora village when it was attacked with stones by a group of youngsters at Alowpora, the native village of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Firdous Ahmad who was killed in an encounter three days ago.
Police said due to stone-pelting some Army soldiers sustained injuries. The Army retaliated with firing causing injuries to three individuals. Two of them later succumbed to injuries at Pulwama and Rajpora villages while the third youngster was shifted to Sher-e-Kashmir institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar in a critical condition.
The slain youngsters have been identified as Javid Ahmad Bhat (20) and Suhail Javid Lone (24). Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Shopian confirmed the death of two civilians.
Meanwhile, SSP Shopian Shriram Ambarkar said they have registered an FIR against the Army.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the killings.
Khan said that Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shopian, Muhammad Aijaz has been appointed as the inquiry officer to ascertain the facts about the deaths. He has been asked to submit the report within 15 days.
An Army spokesman said that the soldiers were constrained to open fire in self-defence to “prevent the lynching of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) by a mob”.
“An Army administrative convoy was passing through Ganaupura chowk in Shopian when it came under unprovoked and intense stone pelting by a group of 100-120 stone pelters at around 3 pm,” the spokesman said.
“Within no time, their numbers swelled to 200-250 persons. The crowd surrounded an isolated portion of the convoy consisting of four vehicles. They caused extensive damage to these vehicles and tried to set them on fire,” said the statement. It said a junior commissioned officer accompanying the convoy got hit on the head and fell unconscious suffering serious injury.
“The mob tried to lynch the individual and snatch his weapon. The violent crowd further closed in towards the vehicles and attempted to set them on fire.” “Considering the extreme gravity of the situation the army was constrained to open fire in self defence to prevent lynching of the JCO and burning of Government vehicle by the mob.”
The statement said that seven Army men suffered injuries and extensive damage was caused to eleven vehicles. “In the process two civilians succumbed to the bullet injuries,” it added. The Chief Minister said every civilian killing, notwithstanding how erroneously made, impairs the political process in the State which has been put on track after hard work by all political parties.
The Defence Minister assured the Chief Minister that she would seek a detailed report in this regard and would impress upon the field formations that mechanisms put in place are strictly adhered to so that such incidents do not recur in future, the spokesman said.
The killings took place on a day when outgoing commander of the XV corps Lt Gen JS Sandhu briefed Governor NN Vohra on the overall security situation in Kashmir on the culmination of his extended tenure before moving out to army headquarters.
Earlier, the Chief Minister directed the district administration to conduct a probe into the incident and come up with findings at the earliest.
The Joint Resistrance Leadership (JRL) comprising separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik for a protest shudwon against the killings on Sunday. In this backdrop, the authorities imposed restrictions in old parts of Srinagar city, suspended rail sevices between Baramulla and Banihal and asked the cellular companies to reduce the internet speed. The south Kashmir areas were without mobile internet for the past three days.