Security restrictions in Poonch-Rajouri areas eased; mobile internet restored

Srinagar: Security restrictions imposed in several areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Rajouri districts last week amid widespread outrage over the death of three residents in Army custody have been lifted. The authorities have also restored mobile internet services in the twin border districts after these remained suspended for more than one week.

However, a massive search operation launched by the Army along with J&K police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to hunt down the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) cadres responsible for killing four Army jawans and injuring three others in an ambush in Poonch’s Dera ki Gali area on December 21 continued the eighth consecutive day on Friday. The ongoing operations which include increased aerial surveillance and intensified ground combing operations cover mainly the forest belt of Dera Ki Gali, Bafliaz and Thanamandi, the police sources said.

Reports received here from Rajouri said that the security forces lifted siege to over a dozen scattered villages in the Surankote-Thanamandi belt of Poonch and Rajouri including Topa Pir and Bafliaz which had witnessed protests over the civilian deaths allegedly due to torture in the Army custody. The slain were among more than a dozen residents detained by the Army for questioning in connection with the December 21 deadly terror attack. Ten others who were also subjected to violence in the Army custody are receiving treatment in two different Poonch and Rajouri hospitals.  

After a couple of videos showing some Army jawans beating up civilians with canes, stripping some of them and even pouring chilli powder over their whipped buttocks went viral adding fuel to public anger, the authorities withdrew mobile internet services in the entire Poonch and Rajouri region from December 23 morning.   

The officials had said that services were snapped as a precautionary measure to check rumour-mongering and prevent miscreants from creating any law-and-order problem.

Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, visited Rajouri on Wednesday to boost the morale of the officers and jawans of the Army and other security forces engaged in the counterinsurgency operations in the region.

He lauded the Army's role in securing the borders of the country and fighting valiantly against the terrorists in J&K alongside other security forces but, at the same time, also sought to drive home other “big responsibility on your shoulders” which is to “win the hearts of the countrymen” and “not to repeat the mistakes that might hurt any countryman” --  an obvious reference to the death of three residents and causing injuries to others in the custody of the Army. He also met the families of slain civilians and the injured in a Rajouri hospital and assured them that justice will be done.

Earlier on December 25, Army Chief General Manoj Pande had during a visit to the sensitive border belt for taking a first-hand assessment of the situation exhorted the officers and jawans to “conduct the operations in the most professional manner and remain resolute and steadfast against all challenges”.

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of various political parties have started thronging Topa Pir and surrounding areas to sympathise with the families of the victims of violence. Among the first who relocated to Topa Pir to meet the families of the slain and assure them that the guilty will face law are J&K BJP unit chief Ravinder Raina and Gulam Ali Khatana.

Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah met the injured in a Rajouri hospital on Friday. Later while speaking to reporters, he squarely held the Army responsible for the death of three civilians. He said, “It is unfortunate that in our country, our Army is killing innocents. Our Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had come here. He has said that they will ensure a proper probe into it and action will be taken against those responsible for it. We hope action will be taken against them and such incidents will not be repeated.”

He strongly condemned the incident and said that there was no place for such incidents in any society. He also reiterated the NC’s demand for an impartial and time bound judicial probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, the officials said that the Army and the J&K police seized arms and ammunition, including three pistols with six magazines and 64 rounds of ammunition and four hand grenades in a joint search operation conducted in Kasblari area of Poonch on Friday. They said that the consignment believed to had been received from across the border was found concealed in a residential house.

Earlier during the day, the security forces launched a cordon-and-search-operation in a forest area of Rajouri following receiving information about the movement of suspicious elements. “Some suspicious elements were seen roaming around at Muradpur in the Kalakote area of Rajouri. On receiving information about it, the security forces launched an operation in the Afla, Muradpur, Bothni and Swani areas of the district,” said an official. End it