Rajouri firing victims cremated; Rs 5 lakh, job announced for kin

The two civilians, who lost their lives in a firing incident outside an Army facility in Rajouri on Friday, were cremated amid heart-wrenching wails by kin on Saturday.

Announcing Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the families, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha termed the incident as very unfortunate. The Army too will provide job to one dependent each of the affected families.

Meanwhile, the victims’ families and local residents have refused to accept that it was a handiwork of terrorists. After the firing incident on Friday morning, the Army had tweeted that terrorists had opened fire, but residents claimed that a sentry posted at the Army camp’s Alpha Gate had shot the victims. Surinder Kumar (40) and Kamal Kishore (39), residents of Ward Number 15 of Falyana in Rajouri, belonged to the Dalit community. They worked at an Army canteen.

One Anil Kumar of Uttarakhand had sustained injuries.

Koshal Kumar, younger brother of Surinder, questioned that if terrorists were behind the killings, why was no cordon-and-search operation carried out? “Both were the sole bread winners of their families. Both have two children each. While one bullet was found in the neck of Surinder, multiple bullets were shot at Kamal,” he said.

The families also slammed the district administration for not clearing the doubts regarding the killings.

Dalit groups had blocked the Jammu-Poonch highway on Friday. Stones were also thrown at the Army camp. Later, officials of the Army, the administration and the police issued an on-the-spot handwritten letter with stamp and signature, mentioning that the Army would provide job to one dependent each of the affected families and a magisterial inquiry would be carried out by the administration. The Army would provide compensation after an inquiry, the letter read.

Kewal Kishan, Rajouri president of the Guru Ravidas Sabha, said the Dalit families deserved to know who killed their members. “Dalit organisations will start an agitation if the administration does not come clear on the killings and issue a statement,” he said.

BJP’s UT chief Ravinder Raina, who also reached the cremation site, said he had talked to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and L-G Manoj Sinha and requested for a high-level probe. “Both the victims hailed from poor families. Anyone involved in the killings should not be spared. A probe must take place as per the Army standards,” he said, adding that a similar incident had taken place a few years ago when labourers from Rajouri were killed in a “fake” encounter in Shopian after which action was taken against the accused.

An Army Captain and two others were accused of staging the encounter of three labourers in July 2020. Later, court martial proceedings were initiated against the three.

Dalit Chetna Manch chief Sham Lal Basson said that the Army’s tweet claiming terrorists were behind the killings was the most unfortunate part in the entire episode as there has been “no inquiry”. Confusion still prevails regarding the incident, he added.

Protest threat

Kewal Kishan, Rajouri president of the Guru Ravidas Sabha, says Dalit organisations will start an agitation if the administration does not clear the air on the killings.
Dalit Chetna Manch chief Sham Lal Basson says the Army’s tweet blaming terrorists was the most unfortunate part in the entire episode as there has been “no inquiry”.
No clarity

The Army had on Friday tweeted that two civilians were killed by terrorists, but local residents had accused a soldier of opening the fire.

Courtesy : Tribune india

Note: This news piece was originally published in tribuneindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights .