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Army, police give different versions of Hygam firing

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Four civilians, including two women, were killed and 18 others critically wounded when troops opened fire on demonstrators protesting against the alleged custodial killing of a pharmacist at Hygam, on the Sopore-Kupwara road, 40 km from the state capital.

Angry villagers came out on the highway on Thursday morning to protest against the alleged custodial killing of Jaleel Ahmad Shah who, according to them, was picked up by the Special Operations Group of the Jammu & Kashmir police on Wednesday.

The state government has ordered a judicial probe into the firing. The chief judicial magistrate of Baramulla, Mir Mohammad Yaqub, will conduct the inquiry.

Police sources said that early on Thursday morning, about 1,000 villagers, including women and children, came out of their houses and blocked the highway. They raised slogans against the police and the unilateral ceasefire announced by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (north Kashmir) Dilbagh Singh told rediff.com that some of the protestors pelted stones on the police. This happened when an army convoy was passing that way. The troops, he said, opened fire, killing two civilians on the spot.

"Two women succumbed to their injuries on way to the hospital," DIG Singh said. The bodies of the four victims and that of Shah were buried in the local graveyard in the evening.

The army, however, claimed that the police opened fire after "somebody" from the crowd fired on the police.

A statement by the army said, "Police opened fire when someone from the crowd, taking advantage of the situation, fired at the police."

It said, "At approximately 1130 hours today at Haigam near Sopore approximately 800 people had gathered to receive the body of Jaleel Ahmad Shah, a militant who was killed in an encounter.

"When police reached the village to hand over the body, the people started pelting stones, while from the crowd taking advantage of the situation somebody fired at the police. The police also fired to disperse the crowd. In the crossfire two civilians received bullet injuries and Rashtriya Rifles personnel were sent to control the situation."

Eyewitnesses, however, claimed that army personnel who were not allowed to pass on the road lost their temper and opened fire.

Tension gripped towns and villages in north Kashmir where reports said hundreds of people took to the streets as news of the shooting spread.

Shah, villagers told journalists, was the sole breadwinner in a family of seven. A police spokesman, however, claimed that Shah was a militant killed in a gun battle with the SOG in a nearby forest.

The district officials who rushed to the spot had a difficult time as angry mobs shouted slogans against the SOG and Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. "Is this the ceasefire? You are killing everyone arrested by the security agencies in custody," shouted a youth at the deputy commissioner and the Baramulla district police chief.

The district administration on Thursday evening decided to register a case against the 29 Rashtriya Rifles. "We have already decided to register an FIR [first information report] against the RR involved in the incident," an official said.

The SOG has been coming under increasing criticism for arresting suspects and civilians and allegedly killing them in custody. Only on Wednesday there was another demonstration in Baramulla town against the alleged custodial killing of a local youth identified as Khursheed Ahmed. The SOG suspected him of having links with separatist guerrillas.

The current spate of alleged custodial killings follows a call by Chief Minister Abdullah to the police not to take any more prisoners, as jails across the Himalayan state are full.

Locals continue to view the official ceasefire with misgivings as it is widely believed that the security forces are conducting operations against the guerillas despite an overground cessation of hostilities.

"This is a serious incident and has served as a severe blow to the peace process initiated by the Indian government," said All-Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Abdul Gani Bhat. "Under the cover of ceasefire they are liquidating the youth. This has undermined the sanctity, if any, of the prime minister's ceasefire [which ends on February 26]."

The Hurriyat Conference has called for a strike on Friday to protest against the Hygam incident.

With reports from PTI

EARLIER REPORT:
4 killed, 18 hurt as troops fire on demonstrators in J&K

The Government Ceasefire: The complete coverage

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