Army jawan get into scuffle with policemen in J&K; 7 policemen injured

Seven policemen were injured when they were allegedly thrashed by Army personnel after the cops stopped private vehicles carrying the soldiers in civil dress last evening at a checkpost in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, police said. The police registered a case against the personnel attached to the 24 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) unit of the Army after the policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector, who were on Amarnath Yatra duty, were injured in the alleged assault by the armymen.
According to the police, over 30 personnel of the Army’s 24 Rashtriya Rifles in civvies were travelling during the intervening night of July 21-22 in four different vehicles on the Baltal-Srinagar route.

“These vehicles escaped forcibly from a nakka point established by the police station Sonamarg at Poney Stand. These vehicles were returning from the Yatra. Due to the already issued cut-off timing and present circumstances, it was not feasible to allow yatris after the cut-off time,” said the police.

The police said the vehicles were again stopped by a police’s nakka party of the Gund Ganderbal police station. “Assistant Sub-Inspector Ghulam Rasool stopped the vehicles as per the directions. However, the personnel without showing any identification came down from the vehicles and started thrashing the on-duty officer and other officials, resulting injuries to the officer,” alleged the police.

The police alleged that more army personnel from Gund and Surbraw areas of 24 Rashtriya Rifles, headed by Captain Shukla , entered in the Gund police station and thrashed “all the police personnel present in there”. “Some records as well as some belongings of officials were also damaged,” said the police.

“A minor altercation took place last night between some Army personnel returning from the Amarnath Yatra in civil dress and Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel at Gund. There was no major injury and the matter has been resolved by the personal intervention of senior officers,” the defence spokesman said.

Security has been further stepped up in the wake of a terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims in south Kashmir’s Anantang district on July 10. Eight pilgrims, including seven women, were killed in the terror attack.