Kupwara, July 15:  Hundreds of people in Rajwar area of Handwara staged protest demonstrations against Army on Sunday after soldiers allegedly beat up civilians without any provocation, a charge denied by the Army.
 Locals said that at around 1:30 pm soldiers of 21-RR Army caught hold of several youth who were working in fields and grazing their cattle. “Army men swooped on us and beat us ruthlessly, without any provocation,” said one of the victims.
 “Three teenage boys Manzoor Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Arif Khan and Manzoor Ahmad were beaten severely. They were grazing cattle when the soldiers thrashed, dragged and beat them ruthlessly. We had to hospitalize them,” said the locals. 
 As the word about the incident spread locals staged a sit-in at Handwara-Wadar road for many hours. They were demanding that erring soldiers should be punished.    Police reached on the spot and pacified the protesters. 
  “There was an altercation between soldiers and local youth after the youth were asked to stay clear of army compound as mines could be laid there”, said Brigadier A. Arun of Sector 7 Rashtirya Rifles. “However the allegations of beating up youth are baseless”, he added.
 Meanwhile, a top police officer in Handwara on conditions of anonymity revealed to KNS that the civil administration of Handwara and Kupwara didn’t cooperate with police after the incident. “Not a single officer visited the spot,” he said. KNS

Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST