Police register case against Army unit, Major for Shopian firing

Mehbooba Mufti orders a magisterial probe into the death of two students.

A CRPF soldier stands guard in Srinagar on Sunday.

The police have registered a case against a Major and his Army unit involved in the firing on protesters in Shopian’s Ganowpora village on Saturday afternoon that left two youths dead. The Kashmir Valley remained tense on Sunday over the incident.

The FIR mentioned the Army’s 10 Garhwal unit and identified the Major as Aditya. The case was registered under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 336 (endangering life).

The Army said it fired in self-defence when the protesters resorted to “intense pelting of stones, attempted to lynch an injured Junior Commissioned Officer and set Army vehicles on fire”.

Mehbooba Mufti speaks to Defence Minister

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who ordered a magisterial inquiry and sought a report within 20 days, spoke to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday evening.

The State government spokesman said Ms Sitharaman assured the Chief Minister “that a detailed report will be prepared of the incident.” She also told Ms. Mufti that “field formations will be asked to set up mechanisms so that such incidents do not recur in the future”.

Shutdown

Kashmir remained tense, with separatists’ organising a shutdown against the killings and the authorities imposing restrictions in parts of the Valley.

District Magistrate, Srinagar, Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, has ordered restrictions under Section 144 “in territorial jurisdictions of Srinagar’s Khanyar, Rainawari, Nowhatta, Safakadal and M.R. Gunj police stations”. He said the restrictions have been imposed as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident.

Train, Internet services suspended

Train and Iinternet services were suspended in south Kashmir for the day. All shops and business centres remained closed in the Valley.

Separatists leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, had called for a Valley-wide shutdown over the killings.

In Shopian, the victims were buried in Balpora and Ganowpora villages. Hundreds of mourners offered funeral prayers. There were reports of minor clashes after the funerals.

Army action justified: BJP MLA

Terming the Army action “justified”, BJP MLA Ravinder Raina dismissed the possibility of a magisterial enquiry. “The Army enjoys impunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. It has its own court. The police FIRs don’t work [against Army]” he said.