New Delhi: The alleged custodial death of three civilians reportedly picked up by the Army for questioning, following the killing of four soldiers by unidentified terrorists and a series of debacles in the Rajouri Poonch area Thursday, could result in action against those in command there, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that the government has taken serious note of the developments.
Incidentally, the tenure of the current Commander of 16 Corps Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain is already coming to an end and he is scheduled to hand over charge on 1 January.
While the region has seen a series of operational debacles in the past one year, resulting in deaths of several soldiers, one issue that has jolted everyone is the death of civilians.
News agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Friday that three civilians were found dead under mysterious circumstances near the site of an ambush by terrorists on two Army vehicles in Poonch district that left four soldiers dead and two injured the previous day.
The report added that the three were among eight picked up by the Army for questioning Friday afternoon, after the killing of soldiers.
Sources said that while the bodies had severe marks of beatings, police are investigating the deaths.
The dead have been identified as Safeer Hussain (43), Mohammad Showket (27) and Shabir Ahmad (32), all residents of Topa Peer village of Bufliaz.
Mobile internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Rajouri districts early Saturday.
Also read: Kashmir sees ‘drastic fall’ in terror recruitment after Army & police launch de-radicalisation drive
‘Resentment among people’
PTI has said that the suspension of the mobile internet services in the twin border districts followed death of the three civilians and widespread resentment among people after the circulation of videos purportedly showing torture of the suspects.
On Thursday, unidentified terrorists targeted a Maruti Gypsy and a truck of the Army, killing four soldiers and injuring two.
After the attack, the terrorists reportedly mutilated the bodies of at least two soldiers and took the weapons of some of them.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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