Several residents of Khodi village in Kupwara district suffered injuries after soldiers beat them up for protesting against the alleged bid of two soldiers in civvies to take into custody an Imam who had come home for Eid, many villagers told Greater Kashmir.
The villagers said (they spoke anonymously) that two soldiers in civvies stopped Fayaz Ahmad, the Imam, and asked about his I-Card while he was travelling from Kalaroos to Khodi, his native place, for Eid celebrations.
He showed the soldiers the I-Card but when they pressed him to share some personal details, he refused. The soldiers, the villagers said, then tried to take the Imam away to nearby forest check post.
However, a boy who is Fayaz’s student at a Madrassa in Kalaroos and was accompanying him home, called one of the local residents who alerted others.
Soon, the villagers rushed to the spot where they found two persons allegedly trying to force the Imam at gunpoint toward the forest. They managed to free the Imam.
The villagers later held a protest in the village. Hours after the incident, however, soldiers from a local army unit came to Khodi village and thrashed men and women indiscriminately, they alleged.
Several locals have suffered injuries. Some were treated at a local hospital and others were shifted to Bone and Joint Hospital in Srinagar for treatment.
Senior superintendent of police Kupwara Shriram Ambarkar Dinkar said all the injured persons were discharged from a local health centre.
The villagers demanded strict action against the soldiers and asked the Governor to personally look into the matter.
“There has been a scuffle between locals and soldiers in which several locals suffered injuries. Inquiry into the incident is on. Strict action will be taken against the culprits,” said Dinkar.