Army Major says his action saved 12 lives

SRINAGAR: An army Major facing criticism for using a Kashmiri man as a human shield defended the act on Tuesday, saying his decision saved the lives of 12 people from a mob allegedly armed with stones and petrol bombs.

The first public comments by Major Leetul Gogoi since the incident on April 9 came a day after he was awarded by the army chief for “sustained efforts” in counterinsurgency operations.

Gogoi was accused of rights abuse for tying the Kashmiri man to the bonnet of an army jeep and parading him through villages on the day bypolls were held for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Speaking to a select group of journalists at an army camp in Beerwah, the officer from Assam said tying the man to the jeep gave him a “fraction of moment to get out of the place and save 12 (lives)”. HT was not invited to the media briefing but has a video recording of the interaction.

Explaining the circumstances leading to the incident, Gogoi said he led a team of soldiers after receiving a “distress call” from a polling station in Gutligam at around 10.30am. “When we reached the area, we saw a large crowd, including women and children...they were throwing stones, some people were even throwing boulders at us from their roof tops,” the Rashtriya Rifles officer said.

Gogoi said he saw a man about 30 feet from his vehicle and asked soldiers to “catch him”. The officer said the man, who was later tried to the jeep, tried to flee but was caught. The man, later identified as Farooq Ahmad Dar, was the “instigator and could have been a ring leader” of the stonepelters, Gogoi said. The officer, however, did not say if he saw Dar pelting stones.

“We managed to save 12 people...four civil polling staff, seven ITBP personnel and one police man were taken out.”

Gogoi said he realised later that the incident had created a furore after the video became public.