Praveen Swami
| Rashtriya Rifles and rogue police officers teamed up for rewards and promotions |
VENTING THEIR ANGER: People raise anti-police slogans as they carry the body of Nazir Ahmed Deka after it was exhumed in Saloora, 25 km from Srinagar, on Friday. — Photo: Nissar Ahmad
SRINAGAR: At least three separate Indian Army units in Jammu and Kashmir participated in a series of cold-blooded murders of innocent civilians organised by a group of rogue police officers in Ganderbal, near Srinagar.
Documents obtained by The Hindu establish that officers of the 5 Rashtriya Rifles, the 13 Rashtriya Rifles, and the 24 Rashtriya Rifles staged encounters and filed false First Information Reports — to make it appear that the civilian victims were terrorists who had been killed in legitimate counter-insurgency operations.
The murders first came to light last month following an internal investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Kokernag resident Abdul Rahman Padder. A special investigation team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police later established that Mr. Padder's killing was part of a series of murders carried out to make the perpetrators eligible for rewards and promotions.
The fake FIRs
FIR 203, filed by the Army on October 5, 2006, records that "multiple ambushes were laid by 13 RR along with SOG Sumbal and JKP at Baazipora [map location] MT 5735." According to the Army, a Karachi-based terrorist code-named Abu Zahid was killed in the operation. An assault rifle and a wireless set were recovered, it claimed. However, investigators have now determined that the supposed terrorist was in fact Shaukat Khan, a cleric from Banihal in Doda district. Like the other victims, Mr. Khan was reported missing from Srinagar shortly before his death — in this case from the Zadibal area, near the Hazratbal shrine.
Earlier, on February 17, 2006, the 5 Rashtriya Rifles claimed to have shot dead an unidentified terrorist. According to the Army, it recovered a Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition, and a pistol from the body. Now, however, police investigators and local residents have identified the body as that of Kokernag resident Nasir Ahmad Deka. A briefcase Mr. Deka used to store the cheap perfumes he hawked on Srinagar kerbsides was recovered in raids on the home of assistant sub-inspector Farooq Ahmad Guddu, a key member of the rogue police ring who was arrested last week. A bottle of perfume was also discovered on Mr. Deka's body after it was exhumed on Friday.
In another case that has been reopened for investigation, a missing Larnoo resident, Ali Mohammad Padroo, is believed to have been killed by the rogue police unit and troops of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles near Kangan. FIR 25 of 2006, filed at Kangan by the Army unit, again claimed that Mr. Padroo was an "unidentified terrorist."
The fifth victim
Troops of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles were also responsible for the killing of Ghulam Nabi Wani, a fifth victim whose body was identified by his relatives on Friday. FIR 52, filed at Sumbal on March 14, 2006, documents that troops, as in the other cases, claimed to have killed an unidentified terrorist.
There have been other cases of atrocities against Kashmiri civilians by the security forces. For example, 12 Army personnel, including the 18 Rashtriya Rifles' then-commanding Colonel R. Pandey, are facing proceedings for murdering four labourers at Devsar Lolab in April 2004, and passing them off as terrorists.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have so far arrested two men from the ranks, including Mr. Guddu. Ganderbal Senior Superintendent of Police H.R. Parihar and Deputy Superintendent of Police Bahadur Ram have been removed from active service pending investigation. However, the Army has yet to make public what action it intends to take.
A spokesperson for the Srinagar-based 15 Corps did not respond to phone calls.
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007