SSP: ‘There was a minor scuffle, officers are reviewing situation’
Gowhar Bashir
Srinagar, Aug 18 : Two policemen, one of them Station House Officer, were beaten on Friday evening by army near Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Kupwara, police sources said.
They said that army personnel from 41 Rashtriya Rifles caught hold of the policemen following a scuffle and then they beat them up. One of them, Shabir Ahmad ‘munshi’ was beaten severely, they said. He was later taken to sub district hospital in Kupwara.
The scuffle, they said, ensued when the ‘Munshi’ intervened to alleged irksome behaviour of the army personnel with a civilian who was asked to come out of the vehicle he was travelling in.
The army personnel, they said, even loaded their guns but the SHO, Tariq Ahmad, came in front of ‘munshi’ and asked them to shoot him first. Later better sense prevailed and army men retrieved. Later senior officials of both police and army reached the spot.
When contacted SSP Kupwara Samsher Hussain said that there was scuffle and “all officers are on the spot to review the situation.”
“There was a minor scuffle. All officers are at the spot and are reviewing the situation. There is nothing else,” he said.
The incident comes less than a month after several policemen, including an officer, were injured when soldiers of 24 Rashtriya Rifles entered into a police station at Gund Ganderbal in central Kashmir and thrashed them.
As per police, during intervening night of July 21-22 this year, a group of more than 30 soldiers of 24 RR in civvies travelling in four different vehicles escaped forcibly from the naka point established by police station Sonmarg at Poney Stand.
The soldiers, who were in plain clothes, without showing any identification came down from the vehicles and started thrashing the on-duty officer and other officials, resulting in injuries to the ASI on the spot.
Police said later that Army parties of Gund and Surbraw 24 RR camps entered the police station in Gund and thrashed all the police personnel present inside while also damaging some official records as well.
A case FIR No. 18/2017 U/S 147, 148,307 ,323, 332, 353,427, 120-B RPC was registered by the police.
Later the police said that issue has been amicably resolved and army assured that such incidents won’t reoccur. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact army’s Srinagar-based PRO couldn’t fructify