J&K police to treat Shopian shootout victims as civilians?
NEW DELHI: In a potential face-off between the army and the Jammu and Kashmir government over killings in Shopian, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has advised the top brass of the state police to maintain that four of the six killed were civilians and not over ground workers (OGWs) or accomplices of militants, according to multiple officials.
The army has claimed the killed were OGWs.
A mobile check-post of the security forces came under fire on Sunday night. In a gunfight that ensued, two militants and four OGWs were killed, according to a Srinagar-based spokesperson for the army.
The killings on Sunday night have triggered large-scale protests in South Kashmir’s Shopian. In a bid to soothe tempers, the chief minister took to social media to express her anguish over ‘civilian’ deaths. “Deeply distressed by more deaths of civilians caught in the crossfire in Shopian. My heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s families,’’ she wrote. SP Vaid, Director General, Jammu and Kashmir police denied the force had any verbal instructions from the chief minister, but said, “An investigation will reveal their affiliations,”, referring to the civilians killed.
Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, the ruling party MLA from Shopian said over phone that the army was passing off civilians as OGWs. “All field reports indicate that the four have no connection with militancy.” He said that he had also spoken with the chief minister who had assured him that “action will follow.”