Jehangir Ali 
Srinagar: Four civilians who were detained on Wednesday (November 20) for questioning in connection with a recent militant attack have been allegedly tortured in custody by the army in Kishtwar of Jammu division where militancy has been on the upswing in recent months.
The allegations of torture have surfaced two days after the army’s northern commander lieutenant general M.V. Suchindra Kumar reviewed the security situation in Kishtwar of Chenab Valley and less than a year after the army was accused of killing three civilians in custodial interrogation in Poonch district of Pir Panjal.
The Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region in Jammu division have been hit by a deadly wave of militant attacks in which dozens of army and police officials as well as civilians have been killed, prompting massive searches and intelligence-based operations during which hundreds of civilians have been questioned.
Locals and officials told The Wire that the victims identified as Sajad Ahmad, Abdul Kabir, Mushtaq Ahmad and Mehraj-ud-Din, all residents of Kuath village, received phone calls from the army on Wednesday morning, asking them to report at the camp in Chas camp of Mughal Maidan tehsil in Kishtwar district.
The camp serves as the base of 11 Rashtriya Rifles. All the four victims are poor and married who made a living by working as daily-wage labourers, their families said.
“They went to the camp without taking anyone along while informing their families that they would return home soon. However, when they didn’t come back and repeated phone calls went unanswered, the families decided to check at the camp,” a local of Kuath village who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.
The victims were, however, released before the families reached the army camp but they were badly injured. “Some of them had to be lifted on the shoulders because they were unable to walk. It was decided by their families to shift them to Kishtwar district hospital for treatment,” the local added.
All the four victims are poor and married who made a living by working as daily-wage labourers, their families said. Photo: Special Arrangement
Some photos in the possession of The Wire indicate that the victims have been badly assaulted. At least two of them have bluish-red marks on their legs and buttocks, purportedly caused due to repeated flogging with a hard object.
The third victim has suffered a laceration in the temple area while the fourth victim has an injury in the left eye which has been nearly shut due to heavy swelling, purportedly caused due to a heavy blow. “All of them have marks of assault on their bodies,” the local said.
As the families were on the way to Kishtwar in a cavalcade of private cars along with the four victims, they were stopped by the army in Bhanderkoot village on Wednesday evening. The families alleged that the army didn’t allow them to move ahead.
“The army took the victims inside their camp and promised to punish the culprits involved in the torture. They wanted to cover up the matter,” the local said, adding that senior army officers also arrived at the camp and assured the families that the guilty would be punished.
A grainy video filmed on Wednesday evening outside the Bhanderkoot camp, which has been verified by The Wire, showed dozens of army soldiers preventing the families from proceeding towards Kishtwar. A family member of one of the victims can be heard shouting that they would call the ambulance if their vehicles were not allowed to cross the camp.
In the meantime, as the news of the incident spread in the area, the civil and police administration also swung into action with senior officials including Kishtwar’s deputy commissioner and senior superintendent of police (SSP) arriving at the spot who tried to calm the agitated family members.
SSP Kishtwar, Javed Iqbal, could not be reached for comment. A senior police officer said that they are verifying the allegations, “We have taken cognisance of the incident. The medical examination of the four men has been conducted and they have been provided treatment. The law will take its own course,” he said.
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The allegations of torture against the army have surfaced in the backdrop of the killing of a special forces’ junior commissioned officer in a militant attack in Chas area of Kishtwar on November 10.
Three more army soldiers were also injured in the attack which took place three day after two civilians, who were working as village defence guards, were abducted and later gunned down in a militant attack in the upper reaches of Kishtwar on November 7.
In December last year, three civilians were killed during custodial interrogation by the army in Poonch district of Jammu. An army probe had later blamed the “lapses” in the conduct of about a dozen army personnel, including officers, for the gruesome killings.
A unit of the army’s Rashtriya Rifles, which was involved in the killings, was shifted out of Poonch district while a probe was launched to investigate the role of a commanding officer and a major who were allegedly involved in the killings.