Srinagar: A Jammu Kashmir Police officer Saturday publicly accused para-military Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of abusing civilians and alleged that they were out on roads to maim, hurt and kill civilians in Kashmir.
‘They molest female commuters, cause damage to private vehicles and thrash people without any reason or provocation. The irony is that these unbridled CRPF men beat up policemen and even threaten to shoot at them when they stop them from harassing people,” Police officer Muhammad Ashraf Pual, in charge police post Sangam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district told Srinagar based news agency CNS.
Kashmir Valley has been witnessing unabated violence after the death of Hizb commander Burhan Wani on July 8 this month. Major parts of Kashmir are reeling under curfew as death toll of civilians has crossed 40 mark with around 3000 civilians wounded.
The Police officer who was all praise for his men for exercising maximum restrain while dealing with law and order problem said that one of the police drivers (Afroz Ahmed Dar (SPO/4545) of Tikabagh Anantnag from his area lost his life while a Police Rakshak costing Rs 35 lakhs was pushed into the River Jehlum, yet they didn’t open fire on the protesters. “There was no civilian causality in our area. The thrashing and molestation incidents that occurred in the area were the handiwork of CRPF men who didn’t follow our orders and even thrashed us at times when we tried to save civilians from their wrath,” he said.
Narrating the incident when CRPF men from 90 Battalion harassed a pregnant woman, the In-charge police post said that these men beat up some of the cops when they saved the woman and gave her a safe passage. “They threatened to kill us when we saved a girl from Kulgam from them. They harassed that girl who was accompanying her ailing mother along with her brother. These men crossed all the limits while dealing with that family. Our heads hung in shame. They tried to maim us but we didn’t retreat and freed the hapless girl from their clutches. Without any reason these men stop private vehicles near Sangam, harass females, thrash male passengers and damage their vehicles. They are not following any law and their actions are not going to bring peace to Valley. Contrary to that it will alienate more people. These unbridled CRPF men clashed with us several times and it was local police who saved these women and civilians from them,” Pual said adding the height of lawlessness is that instead of working under the command of local police, these CRPF men from 90 Battalion not only violate Standard Operating Procedure but also abuse and thrash local policemen who stop them from harassing innocent people.
Paul whose house was attacked by protesters at Chandrigam Tral for his alleged involvement in seizing the bikes of youth who were on way to attend Burhan Wani’s funeral in Tral on July 9 was further quoted as saying that it were CRPF men who harassed people and threw dozens of bikes into the River Jehlum near Halmulla Sangam. “The situation would have turned ugly but we intervened and diffused the situation. The large number of protesters was ready to react to the unwarranted actions of CRPF men. There are many bikes belonging to civilians lying at our police post. We seized these bikes from CRPF men when they were busy in throwing them in the River Jehlum,” he said.
“More than two lakh people visited Tral to attend Hizb Commander Burhan’s funeral and thousands of them, including women took Sangam route. Sensing trouble and to maintain peace in the area, we advised ‘emotionally charged’ people to take alternative route as we feared that CRPF men deployed at Sangam will create law and order problem. They (CRPF) detested our strategy and to vent their anger they abused and slapped couple of local policemen. We failed to understand whether these CRPF men are here to maintain peace or foment trouble,” Paul wondered.
Pertinently, the house of the said police officer was attacked by protesters a few days back at Chandrigam Tral. Paul was not present during the attack while his wife and daughter fainted and were shifted to hospital. The mob had alleged that Paul harassed people near Sangam, a charge vehemently denied by him. “It was local police that and it is local police that is on roads to protect innocent people,” he said. (CNS)