Sixteen Army Personnel Named in FIR for Assaulting and Kidnapping Policemen in North Kashmir’s Kupwara
Image Source: NDTV
Sixteen Army personnel, including three Lieutenant Colonels, have been named in a First Information Report (FIR) for allegedly storming a police station, assaulting, and kidnapping police officers in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on Wednesday night. The incident, captured on the station’s security camera and now viral, shows several Army men entering the police station, dragging, and beating up policemen. The altercation occurred around 9:40 p.m. following a police raid earlier in the day at the house of a local Territorial Army man.
According to the FIR, a large number of armed and uniformed personnel from the 160 Territorial Army, led by Lieutenant Colonels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan, and Nikhil, unlawfully entered the Kupwara Police Station. The FIR describes the incident as an unprovoked attack, with the Army men, forming an unlawful assembly, severely assaulting the police staff with rifle butts, kicks, and sticks.
The situation escalated as senior police officers rushed to the station to rescue their colleagues. Upon their arrival, the Army personnel, led by the Lieutenant Colonels, allegedly brandished their weapons, seized the mobile phones of the injured police officers, including Station House Officer Inspector Mohammad Ishaq, and abducted Head Constable Ghulam Rasool as they fled the scene. The Territorial Army man previously detained by the police was also taken away.
A case has been registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 186 (obstructing a public servant), 332 (causing hurt to a public servant), 307 (attempt to murder), 342 (wrongful confinement), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 392 (robbery), 397 (robbery with a deadly weapon), 365 (kidnapping and abduction), and Section 25 of the Arms Act (illegal arms use). The investigation is being led by a deputy superintendent of police in Kupwara, aiming to uncover the full extent of the crime and bring the accused to justice.
The Army has not commented on the FIR, but a defence spokesperson in Srinagar dismissed reports of the altercation as “mis-founded and incorrect,” claiming that minor operational differences between the police and a Territorial Army unit had been amicably resolved.
The Territorial Army is a military reserve force of part-time volunteers who support the Indian Army.
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