IGNOU Professor Allegedly Beaten up by Army in Jammu, Probe Ordered

Srinagar: The army on Friday (April 18) ordered a probe after a professor at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), who was on the way to attend his sister’s marriage, was injured in an alleged assault by soldiers in the Rajouri district of Jammu division.

Station house officer of Nowshera police station, Arjun Mangotra, told The Wire that a case has been filed in connection with the incident. He however refused to specify the sections under which the case was filed and whether the army personnel have been named in the First Information Report (FIR).

Senior superintendent of police Rajouri Gourav Sikarwar could not be reached for comment.

The probe was ordered after People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that one of the victims, identified as Liyaqat Ali, who belongs to the tribal Gujjar community and works as an assistant professor at IGNOU in New Delhi, was “mercilessly assaulted” by the army soldiers near Lam village of Rajouri’s Nowshera.

Speaking with The Wire, Abdul Khaliq, a farmer whose brother is married to Ali's sister, said that a cavalcade of vehicles comprising two private cars and two mini-trucks was on the way to Lam village at around 10 pm on Thursday when the incident took place.

“The vehicles halted at the last stop on the road to our village. There were six persons in two private cars and they were unloading the bride’s belongings when a group of army soldiers arrived in the area and asked them to show their credentials,” Khaliq said.

Two brothers of the bride, who work in the army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, were among the six persons who were taking her belongings to her new home.

“When they asked Ali to show his credentials, he told them that he was working as a professor in Delhi. This irked the army soldiers who pounced on them and beat them up mercilessly,” Khalid said, adding that Ali was administered seven sutures in the skull to seal the wound suffered during the alleged assault by the army.

A video posted by Mufti on X, shows the victims arguing with the army soldiers in pitch dark. A police team seems to have also arrived at the spot when the video was shot.

“They didn’t even carry out checking. They started attacking us right away,” a male voice can be heard telling an officer, purportedly from police. “Did they hit you with a stick,” the officer asks Ali, whose neck is smeared with blood as the camera focuses on the wounds on his head.

“No, they used a rifle,” Ali responds calmly while his brothers repeat the claim in chorus.

“I was pushed into a drain and beaten up,” another male voice is heard saying in the video. “What they are doing is wrong, given that we also work in the armed forces,” a third voice adds.

The video shows the officer asking the victims about their antecedents. “They are from Kalakote. My son is getting married and they were getting some stuff to our home,” the middle-aged father of the groom wearing a skullcap responds.

“We would have understood (the anger of soldiers) had there been an ambush or there was some danger. There are lights all around this place,” one of the victims complains to the officer.

At this point, the 1 minute 12 second video shows an army soldier intervening, saying: “Wait a second sir. Did we tell you there was an ambush?” The victims respond negatively in unison.

“Mara kyun? Belt force hogi apni jagah, lekin bhai jo galat hai galat hai (Why did you beat them? You may belong to armed forces but you can’t justify a wrong act),” the officer reprimands the soldier.

Then, a soldier of a seemingly superior rank joins the conversation. “I will tell you what has happened,” he says in fluent English, “Me, my guide and the new major saab who has taken over, we were standing here, theek hai, where is the driver … here is the driver ….,” as the video ends abruptly.

In the background, one of the victims who also works in the armed forces can be heard saying: “We have never carried out checks like this”.

Mufti said that the “shocking act” had “shattered a common man’s faith” and it was "especially painful given that the victim’s family has proudly served in the Indian Army.”

“I urge senior army personnel to take immediate and strict action against those responsible. Such individuals tarnish the reputation of a respected institution through their unacceptable and high-handed behavior,” Mufti said.

In a statement, the army claimed that there was “input on likely movement of terrorists in a vehicle in this sensitive area” of the Pir Panjal region which has emerged as a new theatre of insurgency-related violence after Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated and downgraded into two Union Territories.

“Accordingly, search operations were being conducted. Preliminary information suggests that on being stopped, the individual tried to snatch the weapons of the soldiers on duty and initiated a scuffle with them. However, an enquiry has been initiated. Should any personnel be found guilty of misconduct, strict action will be taken in accordance with the existing law,” the statement said.

The army statement said that its soldiers “remain steadfast in upholding the highest standards of professionalism and discipline in the conduct of counter terror operations."

"All sections of the society are requested to continue to cooperate and collaborate with the Indian Army for collective and comprehensive security in this sensitive area,” it said.

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